Racket sports – The third edition of the Racketlon de Tahiti, a competition dedicated to racket sports, was held on Saturday at the Fautaua complex, and was won by Heve Kelley. He had already won the second edition in 2022. Pascaline Toutain won the ladies final.
Launched in 2017, Racketlon de Tahiti had to wait five years for a second edition. It combines four racket sports in the same tournament: table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis. But the third edition of the Racketlon de Tahiti being organized at the Fautaua complex which does not have facilities for practicing squash (this is planned for the 2027 Pacific Games which will take place in Tahiti), beach tennis took the squash square, Saturday.
Fifty men and 15 women competed in the four disciplines, with the majority of those selected for the Solomon Islands Pacific Games in tennis, table tennis and badminton being present in Fautaua. This creates suspenseful encounters, as was the case on Saturday during the final rounds in the men’s draw and to a lesser degree in the women’s. The men’s final between Heve Kelley, tennis champion, and Rémy Rossi, the local badminton reference, was an illustration of this.
Heve Kelley had a 13-point lead in table tennis (21-8), but Rémy Rossi didn’t give up in badminton and won 21-0. Heve Kelley made up part of his deficit by winning 21-15 in beach, Rémy Rossi having a two-point lead before tennis. It was too little against one of the best local tennis players and if Rémy Rossi momentarily led 12-0 came back to 14-6, Heve Kelley completed the set in 21-6 to win his second Racketlon after that of 2022.
Less suspense in the ladies’ final, Pascaline Toutain dominating Laure Bellanger 73-47, having made the difference in all disciplines except tennis. Sarah Rozan took 3rd place against Marea Algane without needing to play beach tennis as the difference in scores was so significant after the first three disciplines.
The concept of racketeering has the potential to continue to develop and we have no doubt that that of Tahiti will gain notoriety, especially if it benefits from an international platform.
Patrice Bastian
2023-10-10 01:54:48
#Heve #Kelley #retains #Racketlon #title
