Apply Now for the November World Championships in Austria
Date: 2004-03-09
_________________

The Austrian representative to the IRF and the director of the next World Championship reports on developoments in Austria.
_________________

Everything is set for the 4th Racketlon World Championships in Austria from Thursday 11th to Sunday the 14th November 2004. The venue will be the Club Danube Donauzentrum in Vienna's 22nd District only 15 minutes per underground from the city centre. The three nearest airports to fly into are: Vienna International Airport, Linz Airport (Ryanair) or Bratislava Airport (Sky Europe). The tournament organisation has once again undergone a deal with the luxury 3-Star Trend Austria Hotel directly in the same building complex as the sports centre. The price is a sensational 37 Euro per person in a double room per night including a breakfast buffet. The number of rooms is limited and have to be booked by 1st October 2004 at the latest.

The tournament will start on Thursday 11th morning with the National Team competition. For the first time in Racketlon history all positions will be decided, meaning all teams are guaranteed at least three matches. On the same day the first official World Championships for journalists will hopefully not only attract local press, but also international. All other competitions start Friday 12th in the morning. Men Elite, Men Open, Men Amateur, Women, Junior (20-), Senior (45+). All players are guaranteed at least three matches. One of the highlights will take place on Saturday 13th; Austria's Number one in Badminton Jürgen Koch will challenge Austria's Mr. Tabletennis Ding Yi in a Racketlon exhibition. All Semifinals and Finals will be played on Sunday 14th. Entry Deadline is the 1st of November. Apply now at http://www.racketlon.at/racketlon_wm/index.html

Austria has been moving very fast on the tracks of Racketlon over the last couple of months. The Club Danube Vienna Top series is attracting a number of 35 players per tournament once a month. The introduction of an Austrian ranking was a great success. Not only are Marcel Weigl and Michael Dickert travelling to the Canadian Open, a delegation of 11! players will be taking part in the British Open, among them 2 women, 1 junior and 2 seniors. "What we are working on now is founding clubs across the country and trying to create an Austrian Tour due to start in Autumn 2004 in at least 5 Austrian counties", says Austrian Number one and president Marcel Weigl. The Austrians are now also starting to train the world champions of the future: For probably the first time in Racketlon history worldwide a youth camp for Racketlon will be held in Vienna during the Easter Holidays from the 5th to the 9th of April. 90 minutes training in each of the sports per day, for one whole week should attract many youngsters from the age of 6 to 18 years. "Its new, its trendy, its different, its fun, its for allrounders, that's what the kids want", says organizer Michael Dickert - sure to be on the right track into the future of Racketlon.

_________________________________