It was a really successful South West Open event at Devon and Exeter Squash & Racketball Club on the 7th September for the Kalar family, with Jasmin, Danni and Dylan all coming away with medals at the end of the day!

​It was a very soggy Saturday down in the Westcountry, a complete contrast to the 30 degree heat of 2023! This didn't deter our UK Racketball Series players though, and with an massive Series event entry of 71 players (not including Doubles pairings,) we were in for a very busy day of action. We had a great mix of travelling regulars and local new or less regular faces and it was lovely to see everyone mixing so socially across the day. The D&E has always been a very welcoming venue and this added to the great atmosphere.

Our Winners for the day were:

O70s - Rob Lathbury - beating O70s Series top dog Graham Greensall in the key group match. A very competitive group of 5 players here though showing the increasing strength of the age group!

O60s - Jon Rycroft - D&E local man Jonny battled through some brilliant matches across the day, notably in his final against Mike Wardle, taking it 12/10 3rd game, 2/1 overall. Both players leaving everything on court! 

O50s - Phil Hall - The Surrey man has been going from strength to strength this season and played some top quality Racketball across the event. He got through his 4 group games without dropping a set, then took down Shropshire's Nick Billington in the final 2/0 as well! 

O40s - Alexis Smith - The O40s category has really been impressive this season, with the top 8 or so players all really driving each other foward, getting wins against each other and always looking for an extra % to get the result. This time round Alexis Smith came through as Champion, beating Craig Chappell in a very hard fought, high quality final 2/1. Smith earlier coming through his group stage without dropping a game, Chappell earning a good win vs Ryan Loska in a brutally long 2/1.

Ladies B Grade - Annabel Wright - We were really pleased to be able to have a separate Ladies B Grade for the first time ever in a One Day Series event! This featured a mix of local club players and also some travelling Ladies, really great to see new faces competing together in a fun and social environment. In the end it was another D&E local - Annabel Wright who managed to win the group, impressing everyone with her ball control and movement for an U15 junior!

B Grade - Natalie Lawrence - Locals reigning supreme! Former British National Ladies O40s Champion Natalie (also from the D&E) was in fine form in a competitive and balanced Mixed B Grade. She made it through her group stage and the Semis without dropping a game, only to come up against James Dean from Bournemouth in a brutal final. Lawrence putting in a fantastic comeback in the 3rd game overturning a heavy deficit and multiple match balls to win 17/15 and 2/1!
  
Ladies A Grade - Jasmin Kalar - A busy Ladies A draw of 8 players in two boxes of 4 had a great mixture again of local players mixing in with others from all over England. Despite the locals best efforts however it was a sister act in the final, with Jasmin meeting younger sister Danni. Both having done well to win through without dropping a set, Jasmin notably beating British Nationals O50s Champion Jo Perriam on the way. In the final she also didn't give Danni a chance to get a foothold in the game, hitting some great quality controlled lines and widths throughout to win 2/0 and take her first Series title! 
 
A Grade - Dylan Kalar - A smaller A Grade this time round with a box of 4 players didn't reflect the quality on display. There were some top games across the day, Kershaw vs Russell (1/2), and Kalar vs Calli Smith (2/1) notable schedule ruiners! In the end Dylan did the business and took the title after some classy play and quality movement across his matches. Kudos to O50s Jason Russell for managing to squeeze the runner up spot over two players much younger than him!
 
Doubles - Norton / Kershaw - The two pairs that made it through to this event's final did so with clinical precision (or as much of that as there can be with Racketball Doubles!) Neither dropped a game in their group stages and so we were left with Norton / Kershaw vs Hall  / Loska to see who could take the win. Loska & Norton are scrapping it out at the top of the UK Racketball Doubles Series rankings at the moment and so every event really does have a big impact on that end game finish! In the end, after having played out a very entertaining and impressively tactical and creative final, it was the North/South buddies that took the win 2/1, giving Norton a big boost as he moves 230 points ahead of Loska in the standings. 

A great day out at the D&E despite a couple of niggly problems with the crazy humidity caused by the relentless rain all day. A huge thank you to the club and its staff for making us feel so welcome and helping sort the court issues when they cropped up. Look forward to being back there in full force again next year!

You can find the full results from the day on Sporty HQ here: https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-8-South-West-Open-Exeter-7th-September

And also photos and video clips from the action here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1445970786350471&type=3

​The next one is our second major of the 2024 Karakal UK Racketball Series - the Maze Property British Racketball Open at Hallamshire in Sheffield! With it being a major for both Singles AND Doubles expect there to be some mighty shifts in the current Series ranking standings post event. Can't wait!

We have a massive month of Racketball action ahead of us, three different events all with important parts to play in the game, the 2024 Series and also 2025 England selection!

- South West Open Exeter 7th September - draws and schedules are now out for this one and with another full event it looks like it will be a great day of action at Devon and Exeter SRC You can see who is in the mix here

https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-8-South-West-Open-Exeter-7th-September

- Home Internationals Racketball Team Championships Glasgow 21st/22nd September - with England, Scotland, Wales and Jersey all coming together to do battle at Over 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s age categories we have a really exciting development for the game as we look to try and push the sport forward.

With other European nations such as Finland, Portugal and Gibraltar also looking keen for Cardiff 2025, this could be a real boost for the sport in the wider context! Good luck to all involved this year (especially the England teams of course) keep an eye out for results and pics as we go!


- The Maze Property Development British Racketball Open 5th & 6th October Hallamshire - with entries already at the same number as the 2023 edition, this event is getting bigger and better every year!

Categories open to suit all ages from Open A/B/C Grades through to O75s, Men's and Ladies, plus Doubles draws too, there really is something for everyone here.

Plus Hallamshire Tennis & Squash Club have done a great job in setting up a top Saturday night Oktoberfest themed party with plenty of entertainment and food & drinks deals. So after a hard day's battling it out you can rehydrate in the appropriate manner...

Event entry via Sporty HQ here:

https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/British-Racketball-Open-5th6th-October-Hallamshire

(Entry closes on the 20th September so not long now to get your name down!)


A massive thank you to all our sponsors for making these events and the Series possible. You have all helped us keep driving our great sport forward and create these new opportunities to grow and develop it!

Exciting times indeed...
​

The Jeal brothers from Kent combined to take three of the medals on offer at the London Racketball Open 2024 on Saturday 10th August at Bexley Squash & Tennis Club!

​A hot and sweaty day on the outskirts of the capital led to a long day of Racketball action, with some really tough battles from the first round at 9am, all the way through to the last match - the O60s Final finishing at 8.30pm! The quality never waivered across the day, with all draws well subscribed despite the mid summer calendar schedule. Fantastic to see such great entry numbers continuing post Nationals.

In the O70s, Ian Graham was back in the mix after having to drop out of the Nationals late on, and he resumed business as usual by taking the win without dropping a game throughout. He was pushed well by Graham Greensall though once again, who had done excellently to battle through a number of tough matches in the day, with tight 2/1 wins vs Paul Hudson Oldnall and Paul Loska in the lead up.
The O60s was a busy draw with 12 entrants and some top Series regulars in the fold, with Osborn, Wardle, Banfield, Chipperfield amongst a number of other top competitors. In the end Mike Wardle did really well to get past first Robin Chipperfield, and then Mark Banfield, both 2/1, to meet  National Champion Osborn in the last match of the day in the Final. While hinting at a possible upset by sneaking a game against the Mr Consistent of the category, Wardle wasn't quite able to finish things off, with Patrick taking the win 2/1, continuing his dominance this year.

The O50s was well subscribed once again, and gave us some excellent matches across the day. Murray vs Billington being a notably tough group stage showdown, Andy taking it in a very tight 2/1 win. Murray, Billington, Hall and Morris all made their way through to the semis stage, where the Shropshire Slogger proved to have too much in the tank for the rest as he mercilessly steamrollered the rest, not dropping a game to taking the title!
A few late ins and outs in the O40s led to an eventual draw of 5 players in one box, and some great games coming from it. There wasn't much in it at all for places 3-5 with Dewis, Jenkins and Barnes all having some great matches against each other. The top two though came down to O45s National Champion Ryan Loska and Wiltshire No 1 Adam Giles. In a fantastic upset win, Giles beat Loska for the first time ever, showcasing some quality heavy hitting being backed up better than before by being able to stay with Loska's endurance and movement ability. A great win for the big man!

A busy B Grade with 16 players involved is always great to see, and the groups were as competitive as ever, with one box coming down to a % of points won vs lost between three players to see who won through! Also a first game of the day going to 21/19!
In the end, Sam Jeal, Jodey Watts, Paul Strong and James McClean all made it through to the Semis, where an exhausted McClean went out to Jeal 2/0. Contrastingly, Strong and Watts had an absolute brute of a battle, with the Lee on Solent man coming through 14/12, 8/11, 11/9. From there though it was only one way traffic, with Watts' body and feet broken, and Jeal was in no mood for niceties, dispatching him 2/0 to take his first UK RB Series title!
We had two Ladies players in the B Grade and Ladies Open draw, with Jasmin Kalar and Phoebe Colman having some great matches throughout the day. When it came to their final, Kalar took an early lead going 1/0 up in games, but Colman managed to claw it back and takje the win 2/1 for her first Ladies UK RB title too! Both players already teed up for future Series events as they look to get England Team Selection for 2025.

Finally to the Doubles and the A Grade, where we had one of our busiest Doubles line ups of the 2024 Series with 12 pairs! A really entertaining mix of players involved and the usual shenanigans made for a great event. The top 4 seeded sides managed to make their way to the semis, where Phipps/Strong and Jeal/Jones overcame Loska/Hall and Osborn/Fernandez 2/1 and 2/0 respectively to set up a 1 vs 2 seed final. With all 4 of the competing players having had a number of tough matches in their singles categories, this was a match played on last legs, and the nous and hitting ability of Ted and Billy did the business for them, taking them to their first Series title as a pair of 2024, and putting them as ones to keep an eye on for the British Open and National Doubles Champs in the coming months...

The A Grade also suffered a couple of late drop outs but still maintained a quality 6 player event, every player involved having won Series titles at A Grade level before. In a repeat of two National Championship finals, it came down to Mike Harris and Ted Jeal to see who could be London Open Champion for 2024. Despite Ted hitting some quality shots and using all corners of the court, Harris' retrieval skills and relentless length hitting wore the Kent man down, giving Mike the win 2/0 in an entertaining and talkative match. Great to have Ted back in the Series mix however and he will be targeting an England slot too after a Semi Final showing in the Nationals last month.

Congratulations to all the Finalists and thank you to everyone who come and took part in another really fun and friendly day of UK Racketball Series action. Bexley hosted us fantastically once again and has always been a top venue for our events. Look forward to being back there again next year!

You can check out the full results of the day here: 
https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-7-London-Racketball-Open-10th-August-Bexley

With just FOUR events left on the 2024 Karakal UK Racketball Series calendar it is getting close to crunch time on the ranking lists:

2024 Series: https://www.sportyhq.com/ranking/group/1727

2024 Doubles Series: https://www.sportyhq.com/ranking/group/1995

​Lots still to play for then! You can get your name down for any of our upcoming tournaments on Sporty HQ on the below link, or simply email Mike at [email protected] if you have any questions at all.

www.sportyhq.com/organization/view/UK-Racketball

Hope to see you at an event soon!

After a fantastic National Championships a couple of weeks ago, the UK Racketball Series train keeps on rolling forward! We have events every month in the run up to Christmas, so plenty of opportunities for you all to keep the ball rolling.
Check out below to see our events in the run up to the Series Finals on the 30th November and get your name in the mix!:

(Please note, we are now in a new Selection Year for the England Racketball teams, so all event results after and including this month's National Championships will be included in the Road to Selection for 2025!)


10th August - London Open Bexley - ENTRY FULL apart from 3x spaces in O40s, 1x space in O50s and 1x space in O70s. Please contact Mike at [email protected] to sneak in!


7th September - South West Open Exeter - 33 spaces left. Enter via: https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-8-South-West-Open-Exeter-7th-September


5th & 6th October - The Maze Property Solutions British Racketball Open, Hallamshire Sheffield - Full info for our second Major event of the season plus how to enter here: https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/British-Racketball-Open-5th6th-October-Hallamshire


2nd November - South East Open Lee on Solent - 39 spaces left. Enter via: https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-12-South-East-of-England-Racketball-Open-2nd-November-Lee-on-Solent


30th November - Series Finals & National Doubles Championships Stourbridge. https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-13-UK-Racketball-Series-Finals-and-National-Racketball-Doubles-2nd-December-Grantham (Ignore the name on the URL it is a glitch.) Post event buffet for all players around the presentations to celebrate another fantastic year of UK Racketball action!


Finally, you can check out the current UK Racketball Series ranking standings here after a busy British Nationals which caused a fair bit of turnover in the standings:

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


And the Doubles Series rankings here (with the two big Doubles event majors - the Open and National Doubles, still to come!):

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


Hope to catch you all at another Series event in the near future!