Jordan suffers an early exit in Dutch Open
Published: 09:43, 23 July 2008
Ray Jordan's assault on the Dunlop Dutch Open Racketlon title was short-lived as he suffered a first round exit and then endured a mixed bag in the consolation plate competition.
The British number one at the gruelling multi-event sport, from Folkestone, faced a tough draw in French wildcard Sebastien Plancon who is racing up the world rankings.
The sport - from the same family as triathlon and decathlon - pits opponents against each other at table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis.
The winner is the player to gain the most points overall, not necessarily the most sports.
Jordan sent out a message to the world's elite with a 21-0 annihilation of the Frenchman in the first discipline, however Plancon fought back in his strongest two sports, winning 21-4 at badminton and triumphing 21-9 on the squash court.
As he was eight points ahead going into tennis, the Frenchman needed only 14 points to secure passage to the next round and evenually lost in the semi-final.
Jordan swept to a convincing win over German world number 64 Michael Heldsdorfer in the plate before losing to Finnish world number 84 Jukka Salminen.
He eventually finished 20th out of 24 in the Class A Elite draw.
He and men's doubles partner Paul Twisterling from Holland lost in the second round of the competition.
After crushing Belgian pair Hans van Daele and Sven Droeshout, the second seeded duo lost to Jordan's nemesis Plancon and German Achim Berekmeier.
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KentOnline reporter