All 4 seeds make it through in the women’s draw. Repeat 4 semi finalists from last year with Laura Hill taking on Vicky Hynes and Lauren Selby facing Sarah Jane Perry. Can Laura Hill claim her 7th title in a row!
Women’s Over 35’s
All 4 seeds comfortably through to the semis. Number ¾ seed Kathryn Milne looks strong against Bettina Harvey but will face the number 1 seed winner Claire Walker first thing tomorrow morning.
Women’s Over 45’s
No.3 seed Helen Cann falls to Bettina Harvey and will face the number 1 seed Bev Vatcher tomorrow, both of which will be looking to take the title from last year’s winner Lesley Sturgess.
Men’s Open
Brutal day for the boys in the Men’s open with 2 tough games for all.
Tim Vale pulled Pete Billson apart in the first round beating him to points, but had his stamina pushed to the limit by Antony Graham in the quarters finally coming through 3-1.
England no.1 Dom Hamilton was pushed all the way by James Snell in the toughest battle of the day. Snell was solid throughout the first and had all the answers to Dom’s changes of direction and pace taking the game comfortably 11-5. Snell looked strong again at the start of the 2nd and Dom looked to be tiring fast but winners and a bit of luck was on the England no.1’s side as he pulled back an early deficit to claim the game 11-8. The 3rd was a dog fight all the way with neither player managing to extend a lead, both had game balls but at the death it was Dom who came through with a stroke to open up a 2-1 lead. As predicted Snell threw everything he had at Dom in the 4th in an effort to finally take his legs and at 6-3 up it looked like the match was set to turn on its head once again. Racketball experience shone through though with Dom taking the 4th 11-9 and the match 4-1.
In the morning Jonny Harford was pushed all the way by a motivated Ted Jeal but had time to recover before thrashing Joel Hinds in the afternoon to book a place against Fuller in the bottom half semi.
Tomorrow only the strongest will be left standing, bring on the pain!
Men’s Over 35’s
No.1 seed Baker (UK-Racketball Series Champion at Wolverhampton in 2010) will face Matt Pugh a fellow UK-Racketball Series veteran in the first over 35’s semi final tomorrow.
Richard Davis looks like he will take some beating after holding on to clinch an 89 minute marathon against no.2 seed Christian Turner in the bottom half. He faces Michael Ypes who also saw off a seed, beating Adam Grilli 11/4, 11/6, 12/10.
Men’s Over 40’s
Simon Martin was the only seed to fail to reach the over 40’s semi but Jim Lord was pushed all the way by Mark Steeden finally coming through 12-10, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9.
Men’s Over 45’s
2010 UK-Racketball Series Champion Rob Watkins kept up his unbeaten run in age group racketball with a win over Paul Haigh. Buzby Williams secured a place in the semi, coming through a closely contested quarter final against no.2 seed Patrick Ozborn.
Men’s Over 50’s
Mike Philips England no.1 and 2010 over 50’s National Champion will face the Over 45’s National Champion Steve Bateman in the 1st semi final of the over 50’s. Philips was again victorious against James Murphy, the two met numerous times in the UK-Racketball Series last year but the clash of the UK-Racketball Series giants was again won by Philips who will be very motivated to defend his title tomorrow.
Men’s Over 55’s
With the fall of the no.1 seed the over 55’s draw has opened up. Local racketball hero Rob Shay also makes the semis but will have to get past Chris Nicholas to continue his quest for a national title on home soil.
Men’s Over 60’s
The only men’s draw to see all 4 top seeds reach the 2nd day with Ian Graham looking convincing with a 3-0 win.
Men’s Over 65’s
The Men’s over 65’s saw one of the toughest matches of the day with Bob Astbury beating Peter Curwen 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5 in a brutal opening round.
Good luck to everyone tomorrow (except Jonny Harford, obviously :-p) hopefully it will be another great day of racketball.
Tweets
Below are all our Twitter comments as the day progressed. You can also view these on our Twitter feed......even if you are not a member. Click here for our Twitter home page.
- Jonathan Harford is 1 up against Joel Hinds and has made a solid lead in the second. Great high pace game.
- An exhausted Hamilton just beats Snell in a brutal 3-1 to take the Semi Final spot against Tim Vail.
- Stroke! Dom takes the third but is looking rather fatigued....
- Tense stuff for Hamilton vs Snell 12-11 game ball to Dom.
- Hamilton is now 1-1 against Snell for a spot in the quarter finals.
- Tim Vail storms past Pete Bilson but has a very tough close win against Anthony Graham to take him to the quarters.
- National Champs Day 2 photos up online.
- All over 60 seeds through to the quarter finals.
- All over 50 seeds through to 2nd round other than Paul Smith who goes out to Mark Hurd.
- All seeds in the over 45s go through to the 2nd round. No upsets there.... Rob Watkins is confident.
- Photos from the nationals day 1 now up check out our photo album on our Facebook page by clicking the Facebook logo on our site homepage
- Anthony Graham through to the quarters. 3-1 against Jake Grayston
- Hinds, Snell, Vail and Fuller all through to the quarters in 3-0.
- Tom Phipps and Neil Chambers Battling it out...... at the Nationals
- Joel Hinds closes out the 4th and the match to take the win over Matt Pugh 3-1.
- Galen le Chamient goes out to Elliot Selby 3-2 epic!
- Neil Chambers now 2 games up against Daniel Wait but it's very close stuff both working hard and hitting even harder.
- Tom Phipps just takes the first 11-8 against Matt Badger.
- Fuller goes 1 up against Mike Edwards. Both mixing it up well. Good racketball.
- Joel Hinds goes two up against Matt Pugh. Matt responds to the pressure to take the third. 2-1.
Mens O40 Championship - Round 1
07/05/2011:Mark Steeden {Kent} beat Ian Furlonger {Cheshire} 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 ;Marc Thornley {Essex} beat Steve Selley {Devon} Walkover ;Ben Phillips {Oxfordshire} beat Simon Brown {Dorset} Walkover ;
Mens O40 Championship - Quarter-Final
1* Jim Lord {Yorkshire} beat Mark Steeden {Kent} 12-10, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9 ;3/4* David Lord {Yorkshire} beat Andy Clark {Essex} 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 {27m} ;Marc Thornley {Essex} beat 3/4* Simon Martin {Buckinghamshire} 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 ;2* Mark Francis {Yorkshire} beat Ben Phillips {Oxfordshire} 11-4, 11-3, 12-10 ;
Mens O40 Championship - Semi-Final
08/05/2011:1* Jim Lord {Yorkshire} beat 3/4* David Lord {Yorkshire} 11-3, 11-8, 11-4 {19m} ;Marc Thornley {Essex} beat 2* Mark Francis {Yorkshire} 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 {42m} ;
Mens O40 Championship - FINAL
1* Jim Lord {Yorkshire} beat Marc Thornley {Essex} 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 {20m} ;
Womens O55 Championships - FINAL
1* Bett Dryhurst {Worcestershire} beat 2* Linda Smith {Devon} 13-11, 11-7, 11-8 {20m} ;
The players to watch by UK-Racketball
With no Daryl Selby this year’s draw will be wide open. Tim Vale, the National Racketball Champion before Selby is tipped to take the title, but will face stiff opposition from Dom Hamilton in the top half. With the best attacker being pitted against the best counterpuncher this will definitely be one to watch, if the two meet in the semi final next Sunday. The draw also contains more professional squash players than ever before as they look to take the big ball title. David Campion and Jonny Harford are seeded to meet in the bottom half with Joel Hinds, Jamie Haycock, James Snell and Pete Billson also in the draw.
A tough first round for Matilda Parslow, recent UK-Racketball tournament winner at the Manor, as she will face 5 times national champion Laura Hill. The women’s draw could see a repeat of the final from the last few years with Laura Hill seeded to again meet Lauren Selby.
Baker is seeded 1 for the over 35’s, with last year’s winner Jim Lord choosing to focus his efforts on the over 40s’.
UK-Racketball Series Champions Rob Watkins and Mike Philips, both England no.1’s will be focusing on claiming National Titles in the over 45’s and over 50’s respectively.
Mens O35
Mens O40
Mens O45
Mens O50
Mens O55
Mens O60
Mens O65
Mens O70
Womens O35
Womens O40
Womens O45
Womens O50
Womens O55
Womens O60
Mens
Womens
DUNLOP NATIONAL RACKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Edgbaston Priory Club & University of Birmingham
6-8 May 2011
Event Categories
Men’s Open
Women’s Open
Men’s Over 35/40/45/50/55/60/65/70
Women’s Over 35/40/45/50/55/60
Please note:
• If less than 8 players enter a category it may be combined with the next younger age group
• Players may enter a maximum of 2 events
Racketball Balls
The following will be used for the Championships:
• Men’s & Women’s Open – black ball
• Men’s Over 35/40/45 & Women’s Over 35 – black ball
• All other categories – the default ball will be blue
Knockout Draws with Plate competitions for all 1st match losers will be played. All 1st match losers will be placed in the Plate Draw – please check at the Tournament Desk for details of the draws.
However categories with very few players may lead to Round Robins being played.
All matches will be played PAR to 11 – best of 5 games.
Eligibility
The event is open to all players who are qualified to represent England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales. Age group players must have reached the appropriate age by 6 May 2011.
Accommodation
TSC are providing a hotel booking service for the weekend – see separate sheet.
The Tournament Hotel is the Plough and Harrow – for special rates book through TSC
