There’s a first in Queen & King of the Court history, three Kings were crowned in Doha during the 2024 Finals. Stefan Boermans had to drop out of the final after two rounds to be replaced by countryman Steven van de Velde. He and Yorick de Groot won, a unique result in our sport. Lézana Placette and Sandra Ittlinger claimed the crown on the women’s side, after a tight final in which they beat their German and Dutch opponents. It was the fourth time the Queen & King of the Court Finals were held in the Aspire Zone, Doha.
Placette and Ittlinger are friends in real life, but normally they feature on opposite sides of the net. Now they teamed up for Doha and they made it count. In the final round they ousted two teams that made the final directly from the Group Stage: Germany’s Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Müller and Dutchies Katja Stam and Wies Bekhuis. This is the second crown for Ittlinger, who won the 2021 Finals with Isabel Schneider. Placette is on the top step of the podium for the first time, after having won silver and bronze before.
Final results:
1. LĂ©zana Placette (FRA) / Sandra Ittlinger (GER)
2. Cinja Tillmann / Svenja MĂĽller (GER)
3. Katja Stam / Wies Bekhuis (NED)
4. Anastasija Samoilova (LAT) / Aleksandra Wachowicz (POL)
5. Corinne Quiggle / Chloe Loreen (USA)
Three Kings in the desert
Stefan Boermans was well on his way to his first-ever crown. He and Yorick de Groot had gathered the most points in the first two rounds, but just before the second round came to a stop Boermans injured his groin. He was unable to continue, leaving the organization with a spot to fill. It’s within regulation to replace an injured player with someone that’s already eliminated. Steven van de Velde, who was outside the stadium playing a game for fun, came to his aid.
Van de Velde was surprisingly sharp, he and De Groot ran to ten points quite early. The comeback of Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers (Kings of 2023 in Doha) was stopped in time and thus came about the unprecedented situation of crowning three Kings. Wickler and Ehlers won the silver, the bronze medal went the way of France’s Calvin Aye and Rémi Bassereau.
Final results:
1. Stefan Boermans / Yorick de Groot / Steven van de Velde (NED)
2. Clemens Wickler / Nils Ehlers (GER)
3. Calvin Aye / RĂ©mi Bassereau (FRA)
4. Joaquin Bello / Javier Bello (ENG)
5. Edgars ToÄŤs / Martins Plavins (LAT)
