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On Saturday, the 19th of April we visited the East Glos Club in Cheltenham for the first time in the UK Racketball Series. It is a lovely tennis, squash and padel club, with four very well kept squash courts and a welcoming open bar area.


With another full house of 70+ entries it was always going to be a busy day and with a 9am start and matches running on an every 20 minute basis, we had to stay on our toes on the organisation front. This hectic schedule was compounded by the fact that we had a really strong lineup of players across all the categories, and some really tough games all the way through the day from round one to finals. The full list of winners and runners up is below, but some of the notable performances were:


- Jasmin Kalar coming through a strong ladies lineup with the likes of Natalie Lawrence, Sam Mueller and sister Danni in the mix, to win the event and therefore secure her England Ladies team position for 2025!


- A quality days work from Adam Giles in the over 40s, going into it needing to at least reach the final to secure his England spot. With a group of death box standing in his way, he managed to take out both Craig Chappell and Alexis Smith to reach that final stage, and then take top seed Ryan Loska to the brink in the final before going down 2/1 and 11/9 in the third. What a way to secure your spot!


- A similarly strong over 50s draw was almost inevitably rounded out by another Steve Smith and Phil Hall battle in the final. Smith managing to take down an up for it Chris Morris in the semi-final 2/1 having dropped the first game in very quick time. He also also secured his O50s England spot by taking the win over a tired Hall, who did very well to take down current O55s National Champion Merv Davies in the semi 2/0. Hall all but there on the selection front barring some extraordinary other results!


- The over 60s draw was nicely balanced with several players all in with a shout of winning it. In the end Darren Withey from Berkhamstead stormed his way through to the title without dropping a game. Kudos to Mark Millard who managed to battle past top players like Mark Banfield and Mike Wardle in tough 2/1 battles to make his first over 60s category final.
With a couple of events to go, Darren could be one to watch out for in a late run to an England spot. Makes it very interesting and means that other than Osborn and Cordeaux at the very top, no one else is guaranteed quite yet!

- In the over 70s draw despite a couple of late withdrawals, it was still a very strong lineup of players, highlighted by the fact there were some incredibly high-quality first round group stage matches straight away. This category over the last six months has really increased in the depth of standard, and at any given event there are always four or five different players all in with a shout of taking the win!
In the end, Mr. Consistent for 2025 Paul Loska got past Paul Hudson Oldnall in the semi, and then Steve Pearcey in the final to take his third title out of four for the year. Steve having done very well himself to battle past John Herbetko and Rob Lathbury on his way to the final.
With this win, Paul secures his England position for 2025 which is a lovely touch considering son Ryan already has his in the bank in the over 40s!

Well done to all our winners and runners up, it was a top day of UK Racketball series action and a thoroughly enjoyable group of players to spend it with. Full results can be found on our Sporty HQ event Page here:

https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-4-2025-19th-April-Central-England-Open-Cheltenham

And also photos and videos from the day on our Facebook album here 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1615917479355800&type=3

Finally, the updated 2025 Series rankings can be found here. Remember if you do not feature on them it is because you have not validated your UK Racketball profile yet on Sporty HQ, if you need help with that please contact Mike at [email protected] 

Simgles: https://www.sportyhq.com/ranking/group/1727

Doubles: https://www.sportyhq.com/ranking/group/1995

Our next two Series events are still sold out (Peterborough and Cardiff,) so if you are hungering for more UK Racketball action then best get your name in for the British National Championships on the 18th-20th of July at Edgbaston Priory and Sutton Coldfield Squash Club. Entries are starting to go fast so don’t miss out and enter here:

https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/The-Karakal-British-National-Racketball-Championships-2025

Thank you to East Glos for hosting us so brilliantly, it was a great venue for a Series event and we hope to be back there next year!

With just 3 more events left in the 2025 Road To Selection things are coming to a head! Let’s have a sneaky peak at the categories and see who is in, who still has work to do to guarantee their spot, and who is scrabbling to stay in play at the back of the pack…

Remember it’s just 4 players per team competing, but we will have a non travelling reserve too in case of injury.

The key part to this equation is that it’s your BEST 5 tournament scores that make the final selection process. That’s what these last events all come down to, the players that still have work to do all need to either get one or two more events in to maximise their scores, OR some need improve on previous events weaker finishing positions to better their current total!

All rules outlined here:

Road to Selection Rules and Regulations
uk-racketball.com

And here we go!

Men’s Open:

GUARANTEED IN:

- Mike Harris

NEED ONE OR TWO MORE HIGH FINISHES:

- Ted Jeal (playing one out of three of the last events)
- Ali Mutch (playing two out of three of the last events)
- Dylan Kalar (playing three out of three of the last events)

STILL IN WITH A SHOUT:

- Craig Lloyd (playing 1/3)
- Billy Jones (playing 1/3)


Ladies Open:

GUARANTEED:

- Jasmin Kalar

NEED ONE OR TWO MORE HIGH FINISHES:

- Amber Marshall (playing 1/3)
- Rebecca Symmonds (playing 2/3)
- Danni Kalar (playing 2/3)
- Helen Rees (playing 1/3)


O40s:

GUARANTEED:

- Ryan Loska

NEED ONE OR TWO MORE HIGH FINISHES:

- Craig Chappell (playing 3/3)
- Alexis Smith (playing 2/3)
- Adam Giles (playing 2/3)

IN WITH A SHOUT:

- Paul Norton (playing 3/3)


O50s:


GUARANTEED:

- No One!!

LEADING THE PACK:

- Steve Smith (playing 2/3)
- Phil Hall (playing 2/3)

STILL THE MIX:

- Jason Russell (playing 3/3)
- Nick Billington (playing 3/3)
- Merv Davies (playing 2/3)
- James Powely (playing 1/3)
- Chris Morris (playing 2/3)


O60s:

GUARANTEED:

- Pat Osborn
- John Cordeaux

NEED ONE OR TWO MORE HIGH FINISHES:

- Mike Wardle (playing 3/3)

STILL IN THE MIX:

- Mark Banfield (playing 3/3)
- Graham Holmes (playing 1/3)
- Robin Chipperfield (playing 2/3)


O70s:

GUARANTEED

- Graham Greensall
- Ian Graham

NEED ONE OR TWO MORE HIGH FINISHES:

- Paul Loska (playing 2/3)
- Rob Lathbury (playing 2/3)

STILL IN WITH A SHOUT:

- John Herbetko (playing 3/3)
- Paul Hudson Oldnall (playing 3/3)
- James Dubois (playing 2/3)

It is really fantastic to see it all going down to the wire and running so close. A testament to the strength of the Series across all the cagetories over the year. 

Each of the last three events will have a definite impact on the above lists so keep an eye out on player's finishing positions and we will update things event by event.

Good luck everyone!

*New UK Racketball End Of Series Award Announcement*

We are pleased to be able to announce a new end of Series player award for 2025, slotting in alongside the current Player’s Player, Racketball Develoment Individual and other awards. We believe this new award will really represent the true values of UK RB and the yearly recipient of this will in our eyes definitely have earned their place as one of the key individuals in the game.

This new award will be called the “BTL” or “Bar Takings Legend,” going to the UK Racketball player who each year goes above and beyond to stimulate the local economy and keep Squash clubs and local bars and pubs afloat in the Series event regions when they travel there to compete.

As we all know, post event rehydration is key to any sporting success, and the player awarded will be one of those who showcases exemplary committment to the cause.

Special points for:
- Friday night pre tournament “trade negotiations” in the local Wetherspoons
- Starting mid tournament and maintaining competitive play quality
- Ending up having consumed more pints than games won (does negate the second point however)

We have some serious effort already going into this award, with the likes of Knocker Norton, Adam Giles and Callum Arnott putting in some hard Series hours. This could really go to the wire in its inaugural year, and committment across the Majors weekends - the British Nationals and Open could be decisive.
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Good luck all!

A top day of Karakal UK Racketball Series action took place at Hallamshire Squash & Tennis Club in Sheffield on Saturday 22nd March. Our third Series event of the 2025 campaign, it featured a number of the age categories heaviest hitters battling for vital Road to England Selection rannking points, alongside some less regular faces and UK Racketball first timers!

Hallamshire is always a top venue to have any event at, and they made us feel really welcome on Saturday, with their fantastic show court set up and great bar making it a really enjoyable day for all participants. With a maxxed out entry list and some really balanced and competitive draws across the categories, it was a great example of the level of Racketball across the age groups in the UK.

The Kalar siblings proved once again to be two of the hot new prospects in the UK Racketball Series, Dylan taking the Men's A Grade at the age of just 16 years old, beating Craig Lloyd in the Final who also did well to come through a tough draw. Jasmin winning the Ladies without dropping a game all the way through, having a good final against Yorkshire player and UK RB first timer Diane Fenwick to finish!

The B Grade had a new Champion in Tommy Meadows of Dover! A very popular man amongst the Series players, it was great to see him get his first Series title, beating experienced Hallamshire player Graeme Manson in a tight final. Tommy also doubled up (in every sense of the word) as he and best mate John Waller took the B Grade Doubles title over Paul Hudson Oldnall & Nick Jenkins. Waller is two for two this year in Doubles B Grade draws, one to watch out for!

The O40s and O50s were filled out with some really top players, all looking for those vital finishing positions to help their England Selection case. Ryan Loska proving to all that he is still the man to beat in these events, taking another title without dropping a game. Though he was pushed hard by Craig Chappell, who did well to get past Alexis Smith on his way through the draw. The O50s was an incredibly strong line up, possibly the strongest Series event level draw we have had, with the likes of Wase, Smith, Davies, Powely, Dodds and Billington all having won either Series or Major titles at this category! After a long day of slugging it out against each other, Smith was (finally) taken out by  James Powely, and Dodds by Jon Davies. Davies then proving to have too much for the very solid and consistent Powely, taking the final 2/0. At this rate the O50s Nationals in Birmingham in July is going to be an absolute battle royale!

Busy O60s (16) and O70s (12) draws were great to see, again with an incredibly strong depth of player to the line ups. Without Cordeaux and Osborn in the 60s it was open to lots of players to have a shot at the title, and it was local man (the best dressed series player in our opinion) Jim Muirhead who took the title. Celebrating his recent ''aging up'' into the category! Well done to Graham Holmes for coming through a tough bottom half of the draw to reach the final. The O70s was taken by the returning to action Ian Graham, though he was pushed all the way, dropping games in each round. The categories Mr Consistent for 2025 so far Paul Loska, came through the similarly tough bottom half, but couldn't find a way past National & Open Champion Graham, who still remains to be the overall man to beat in the category.

Finally, the A Grade Doubles was won by national runners up Norton & Chappell, who came through a tough 4 team draw, especially doing well against the Smith/Smith duo to see them off in the final match. Showcasing again the spread of quality and the increasing level of the Doubles game in the Series!

So a fantastic day of action with an absolutely top bunch of players involved. Thank you to Hallamshire for hosting us once again and we can't wait to be back there for the Open in October!

Full results below on Sporty:

www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-3-2025-North-East-of-England-Racketball-Open-23rd-March-Hallamshire-Sponsored-by-Abbe

Pictures on our UK Racketball Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1589849278629287&type=3