All smiles in Gothenburg (left to right) Pia Toelhoj, Anna-Carin Ahlqvist, Jette Vieg, Petra Sörling (Photo: courtesy of Hans Westling) by Ian Marshall, Editor First staged in 1991, the west coast Swedish city of Gothenburg was the recent home for what has become the biggest tournament for veteran players in northern Europe. Held in the Exercishusets Sportshall and known as the Idrottsföreningen Ifo, the tournament was staged over a three day period from Friday 3rd November to Sunday 5th November. Players as in previous year from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, Germany, Norway and the host nation competed as well as for the first time from Estonia, Italy and Wales. Proceedings commenced in the preserved historical building that dates back to 1850 with team events in
Month: November 2017
Amber Racket tournament, growing in stature
Pavel Platonov, the men's singles winner (Photo: courtesy of Ina Jozepine) by Ina Jozepsone (Tournament Referee) Staged from Thursday to 19th to Sunday 22nd October; Kaliningrad, located in the Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea, hosted the Amber Racket tournament. First organised in 2012 the event is proving increasingly popular, not just attracting entries from the immediate area but from farther afield. An impressive 209 players from 13 countries representing over 25 cities participated in this year’s competition; in addition to men’s singles and women’s singles events, there were competitions in the under 14 years, under 17 years and over 40 years age groups. Not only has the tournament grown in number, it has grown in stature; notably in 2016 Russia’s Vasiliy Lakeev won