French Open or Masoala Hall Open?
03. Juli 2018
A hand full of brave Swiss souls went to the first ever Paris Open. The heat was on to win some medals. And as if they had forgotten to switch off the heating, the players had to make sure to drink enough in the 40 degree hot venue. The Paris sun was on fire.
So was Nicole Eisler. Not only did she win gold in Women Doubles A with her former partner and comebacker Izzy Bramhall, but she also won gold in the Mixed Elite draw with another English player, Dan Busby.
Mounir Benheddi also stood on the highest place on the podium together with partner Julien Lévêque-Claudet from France in the Men’s Doubles C.
Cédric Junillon, our 100% Swiss (and 100% French as he mentioned it in the interview), won a Doubles medal: Silver with Arnaud Genin (FRA) in the Men’s Doubles Elite!
He also showed a strong performance in the Men’s Elite singles. Fighting like a tiger in the semis against Morten Jaksland (DEN) and later winning bronze in the "little final".
Another bronze medal was won by Eisler in the Women’s Elite singles with a solid victory over Kirsten Kaptain (NL).
Valentin Henin and Nicolas Lenggenhager also survived in the heat and were a bit unlucky, either narrowly losing matches, or even just missing the podium. Henin ended 4th in the Men’s Doubles C. Lenggenhager lost his first round in Men’s Elite singles by only 1 point and a later match also only by a close margin.
The tournament was well organised and can be recommended for next year when it will change its status from a challenger to a normal IWT tournament.
Let’s just hope that the temperature will be a bit cooler next year! This year‘s tournament was a successful and cool event, despite the heat! ;-)
Nicole Eisler