Obergurg. He graduated from Innsbruck Academic High School in the spring and is currently doing his basic military service in Linz. And of course Leon Steiner from Obergurgl in his favorite activity – racquetball. The 18-year-old wants to go far in a sport that is still unknown to us. Meinkreis caught up with him for an interview.
Leon, explain: What is Racketlon?
It is a combination of table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis. The game is played in this order from smallest to largest racket in English. The players compete in four sets to 21 points, each point is counted based on who is serving.
That sounds amazing. Isn’t it a problem to pick up a tennis racket directly after a dolly in the squash box?
It’s quite a change. But you will learn to face this challenge and also learn to use the methods well.
They came from the latter Ötztal. Wouldn’t it be more obvious to be a skier?
I got up and got inspired by skiing. But I wasn’t particularly good at it and in the end I couldn’t really identify with this sport.
But how do you go to racquetball when nobody here knows you?
I started playing tennis when I was six years old. I was first introduced to squash in Graz, where my grandparents lived not far from a sports hall. And one time a squash partner asked me if I wanted to try racquetball. I already play two disciplines, and everyone tries their hand at table tennis anyway. So all I had to do was add badminton as the final piece of the puzzle.
How often are you competing in competitions?
My first competition was the Youth National Championships in Vienna at the end of October 2020, where I immediately came fifth. Being in would actually be a better classification.
When and how do you train?
Especially in the relevant specialties. I play national and international squash tournaments, various badminton tournaments in Austria, and I love the team championship for the tennis team from Sölden. These are also perfect training classes for racquetball.
Where should your sports journey take you?
I have been a member of the youth national team for the past three years. If we talk about the military service, we have decided to skip the national service. And my goal is to achieve international standards and raise the standards of the world.
Peter Leitner did the interview