Another action packed 2024 UK Racketball Series event took place at Hallamshire Squash and Tennis Club on Saturday 23rd March. This tournament, sponsored by Abbeydale Brewery had the largest entry for a One Day Series event at the venue to date, so it was great to see a load of new faces mixing in with the Series regulars throughout!

Kicking off with the Open this time and a strong draw of 8 players gave us some quality matches across the duration of the day in their groups. Notable upsets being Jason Russel and Paul Norton getting the better of Broxbourne's Champion Colin Griggs in their group stage matches. Last year's Open grade winner and reigning O35s National Champion Mike Tolman proved however to be too strong throughout, not dropping a game across the day, taking out well deserved finalist Norton 2/0. He remains the man to beat in Yorkshire! We had a strong three player Ladies draw, featuring two locals in Holly Moore and Kate Martin alongside tournament organiser Nicky Horn. There were some really good matches in this three way best of 5 game showdown, the local derby between Moore and Martin being particularly close. In the end though Horn showed her quality (having won past titles) and came through vs the others without dropping a game. Martin finishing second after getting past Moore in a tight 3/1. Here's hoping to see the three in Ladies Intercounty action this year!

A busy 8 draw in the B Grade featured a good mix of local players and travelling Series regulars. (Kudos to Tommy Meadows for making the trip from Dover!) In the end though the ever solid Steve McClelland battled his way through the day to take the title, though he was pushed well by Tim Millington in the final, where a 2/0 scoreline probably didn;t do him justice! A smaller draw in the 40s nonetheless featured some great best of 5 game matches, with a brutal battle between Jon Davies and Barry Talbot finishing 15/13 in the 5th to the tall Shropshireman. However, neither player could make much headway against the solid gameplay and concentration of Ryan Loska, he took the win without dropping the game and now sits at the top of the 2024 Series rankings after 3 events with Paul Norton. Watch out everyone!

The Over 50s category seems to be going from strength to strength, and this event was no exception, with some quality players spread across the three boxes leading into semis and finals. In the end Wase, Muirhead, Wapnick and Davies battled through some very tough encounters to take the semi finals. Craig Wapnick causing a big upset in the age category, taking out Chris Wase 2/1 in a great match, both leaving it all on court. Wase possibly regretting his choice to play the Doubles too! ​The Over 60s event was also well subscribed with a good mix of local northerners and a few travelling contenders! Both finalists Robin Chipperfield and Graham Holmes were pushed hard in their preliminary matches, having to come through some close 2/1 wins along the way. Chipperfield's variety of spins and tricks combined with his fantastic reach proving too much for Holmes in the final, taking the win 2/0.

A strong Over 70s line up featured some heavy hitters in the age group. 4 out of the 6 players all having won either Series or National titles! Ian Graham making a return to the UK Racketball scene after a couple of years out looked in good form, managing to win the event without dropping a game along the way, including taking down current National and British Open Champion Graham Greensall in the final. One to watch out for as the Series unfolds! The ever entertaining and creative Doubles event was as busy as ever, with 9 pairs thrashing it out across two boxes. With some very experienced players in the mix, there were some really competitive games and it certainly seems that the game of Racketball Doubles is really developing in it's own right, based on what we saw on the day! In the end, top seeds and regular partners Chappell/Norton made their way through to the final to face off against Loska/Kershaw. All 4 players having won Series Doubles titles, so some serious pedigree! The top dogs however didn't disappoint, and took a well earned win 2/0. Cementing Norton's place at the top of the inaugral Doubles Series rankings (over Loska in second place!)

A great day of games at one of the top clubs in the country. What more could you ask for! A big thanks to Hallamshire for hosting us again and for being such a top partner to the UK Racketball Series. Also to Abbeydale Brewery for their continued sponsorship support of our events there!

​If you want to check out the day's results you can do so HERE

And for the latest on the UK Racketball Series rankings after 3 events HERE

And for the Doubles Series Rankings HERE

See you all next time!

The third event of our increasingly busy 2024 Karakal UK Racketball Series kicks off at Hallamshire Squash & Tennis Club in Sheffield on Saturday 23rd March. Hallamshire has been a long time partner of UK Racketball, hosting the North East Open for a number of years, and then more recently the three major British Open Racketball Championship events. The Sheffield club has got a fantastic set up for events with a lovely bar and social area combined with some of the top courts in the UK< so we can't wait to be back there again!

We are lucky enough to also have the support from local business Abbeydale Brewery, who's quality range of beers have long rehydrated our hard working Racketballers at Hallamshire. This time they are kindly providing the category winning prizes so some extra bonuses for those who come out on top!

Now on to the action and the ones to watch! Another busy and high quality line up in the Open/A Grade event pits last year's Champion and Yorkshire RB stalwart Mike Tolman against a punch line up of challengers. Featuring Broxbourne's A Grade Champion Colin Griggs, other Yorkshire legend Paul Knocker Norton, and previous A event winners Alex Kershaw and Craig Chappell amongst others, this will not be an easy ride for the big left hander! The Ladies Open features another 3 Yorkshire players, locals Kate Martin and Holly Moore will continue their club rivalry alongside tournament organiser Nicky Horn, a previous Ladies event winner herself!

As usual the B Grade is very hard to call, with a lot of regulars all in the mix. Steve McClelland possibly the top dog in this one but he will certainly have his work cut out with 4 tough matches guaranteed along the way. A smaller O40s line up means a 3 way best of 5 game shootout between Barry Talbot, Ryan Loska and Jon Davies, all quality players so some top battles on the cards! Loska in particular looking to get back to winning ways after losing out to Alexis Smith in a high quality Broxbourne final in February.

There is another strong draw in the O50s, with 2024 Series event winners Paul Dodds and Andy Hopwood lining up against a whole host of punchy opponents, with the likes of Chris Wase, Nick Billington and Jim Muirhead amongst those looking to get their first Series event win of the season. Going to be some very tired legs after this draw! Another 2024 Series title holder heads up the O60s, with Scottish Open winner Robin Chipperfield at the head of the pack. The likes of Mike Fleming (Scottish Open runner up) and Graham Holmes will be looking to get a win on the board though so he will have to bring out all the backhand topspins he can muster to make it through!

A solid draw of 6 in the O70s is great to see, with the double major Champion from 2023 Graham Greensall as favourite, but with Colin Cruickshank making his way down from Scotland plus experienced campaigners Ian Graham and Geoff Wright in the mix, it will be far from straightforward for the Warwickshire man. Finally, another busy quality draw in the Doubles highlights this side of the game going from strength to strength! Top seeds are Norton/Chappell but they will be pushed all the way across the day by some of the other pairs like Wase/Davies, Loska/Kershaw and Talbot/Griggs.

A highly entertaining day of Racketball battles on the way then! Can't wait to get things rolling. Keep an eye out on the results as they come in via Sporty HQ here:

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

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