With a very succesful 2023 Series nearly at an end we have some great plans in the works for 2024!

Our first half calendar is already open for entry online at SPORTY HQ and on top of that we can our largest number of UK Racketball events in the calendar to date! From the first event in Glasgow Scotland in January to the last Series Finals event in December there is definitely an event out there for players of all ages and abilities.

We are hoping to encourage more Ladies players to get involved in our events by giving each hosting club 3 free Ladies entries into their home event. So there will always be a Ladies draw guaranteed in every UK RB Series and Major tournament. 

The KARAKAL Racketball will be used in all events as of 1st January 2024. They have been massively supportive in the development of the sport and have produced some fantastic equipment for players to get stuck in to. Their ball is WSF accredited and we look forward to using it going forward.

Finally, we also introduce the Masters Racketball Intercounty Championships for the first time as its own standout weekend! The event is open to county teams at Over 40s, Over 50s and Over 60s age groups with both singles and doubles being played in fixtures. So get your teams together for what promises to be a top weekend of Masters action.

Can't wait to get started, hope to see loads of you on the court!

The third British Racketball Open Championships (this year's lead sponsor Sheffield Autogates) finished off with a fantastic set of finals on Sunday, with a lot of quality matches and broken bodies to boot!

It was a very busy weekend with matches kicking off from 9am both days, with events from Men's & Ladies Open, through to Ladies O50s & Men's O75s, and also three different Doubles Categories! With over 110 players taking part there was plenty to keep Hallamshire's courts busy throughout the tournament. The club also laid on a really fun Oktoberfest themed player's party on the Saturday night, which proved very popular to the thirsty participants after a hard day's battling it out on court. Needless to say that there were a few sore heads in the Sunday morning matches! This will definitely make a re-appearance at next year's event...

On to the matches! Starting off with the O75s where there were some great games all the way through the draw with both top seeds being knocked out early! In the end Martin Day managed to take down James Dubois in a high quality final 3/1 with very little in the game scores to separate them. The same can be said in the O70s with suprise finalist Joe Hely from Scotland taking down 2&3 seeds on his way to the final. Here he met Series regular and British O70s Champion Graham Greensall in what proved to be another fantastic tussle. Greensall coming back from 2/1 down to win 11/6 in the 5th game! I'm sure these two will meet again in the near future at this rate... Hely showing unbelievable stamina through the event as his matches went 3/1, 3/2, 3/2, a superb effort at that age and I'm sure something many younger players would aspire to be able to do!

​Upsets galore again in the O65s draw, with the top 2 seeds once more getting knocked out before the final. This time Paul Halstead and Gary Preston both doing the damage to meet in the final round. Here Preston managed to see off Halstead 3/1, capping a remarkable run through the draw. The O60s with a draw of 9 players ended up being played out as a three way final box between Patrick Osborn, John Cordeaux and Paul Haigh. All three matches between the players went to 3/1 or 3/2 highlighting the closeness in standard. In the end it came down to a winner takes all between Cordeaux & Osborn, with Patrick taking the win at 2/1 up as John unfortunately suffered an injury and had to withdraw. A real shame to end a quality battle like this but kudos to Osborn who was considering having to pull out a week beforethe event with a hamstring strain!

In the O55s top seed and last year's Champion Jim Muirhead battled his way past Nick Billington 3/2 in his semi final to face Mark Francis who had a bit of a less physical route past Murray Scott in his semi. Francis getting the better of last year's winner this time round taking the win 3/0. Simon Parke was the top seed in the O50's draw, looking to double up on his British National Championship success in July. He had to face the winner of last year's final (Chris Wase vs Chris Morris) and it was Morris who managed to get past his club mate and regular adversary Wase 3/0 to get through to face him. It was a quality game with both players using all corners of the court to stretch the play but in the end Parke's nous and quality saw him through a worthy 3/0 winner. The Ladies Over 50s event took place on the Saturday only and its was great to have a group of three players involved. National O60s Champion Lesley Sturgess showing her class by taking out two players younger than her to win the O50s title, UK Racketball Series first timer Helen Midgley doing really well to finish second and Amanda Wykes third. Great effort to all three and we can hopefully look to build this draw more in the future!

The O45s saw some tough Semi Final battles between Lowery & Davies and Talbot & Giles. Both going to 4 games and hitting close to the hour mark in doing so. In the end Matt Lowery and Adam Giles made it through the scraps to meet in the final, with Lowery proving to be too hard for Giles to breakdown with his hard hitting, taking the win 3/0. The O40s was a box of 5 players and gave us some really tight games across the event, with some new faces mixing in with Series regulars. It all came down to a titanic battle between Colin Griggs and Alexis Smith, taking well over an hour for the full 5 games. Smith's consistently quality attacking play and ball placement eventually seeing him past the solid straight lines and movement of Griggs. Last year's O35s Champion Chris Hall was back in action again in his first event post injury, and his fast pace and consistently hard ball striking proved hard for any of his opponents to get any joy against. Craig Chappell getting through to the final to face him but going down 3/0 in the process.

We had three Doubles events  - Over 60s, Mixed and Open. All well subscribed with some really good pairings involved. The O60s played out as a box of 5 teams and the O60s singles finalists Cordeaux and Osborn proved to be too strong for the rest, with their left/right hand combination also working wonders. Da Costa and Fleming doing well to get through the rest of the draw to finish 2nd. In the Mixed a few late changes in personell meant that a very strong pairing in Doubles regulars Amber Marshall & Paul Norton came together. While Charlotte Jagger & Olly Jansen played some great exchanges against them with some brutal points, Norton & Marshall proved too sharp and they took the title.

Finally with 11 pairings in the Open draw there was a very busy Saturday of matches. All culminating in a three team shootout on the Sunday to see who could take the win. The Dorset duo of Smith & Allingham were in top form, taking down the pre event top seeds Norton and Chappell in their last match 3/0 to win the event. Kudos also to the last minute pairing of Cossey and Cording who having never played together before (and it was Cossey's 2nd time ever playing Doubles) for making it through to the final 3!

Finally we come to the Men's & Ladies Opens and B Grades. The Men's B was a full 16 draw and there was no real standout top seed, meaning there was everything to play for! In the end Colin Griggs & Dan Hindmarch fought their way through the challenges, Hindmarch in particular having a great match against Cameron parry in their semi. Griggs however proved to be just a step too far in the final, taking the title 3/0 to add to his British Nationals B Grade title. (Safely ruling himself out of any further B Grade level events going forward, it's A all the way for you now Colin!)

The Ladies draw was topped by National Champion Amber Marshall, who faced stiff opposition from the likes of Nationals Runner Up Elspeth Edwards, local top players and e PSA Pros Charlotte Jagger & Fiona Moverly and several other quality Ladies Racketballers. In the end Moverly, Marshall and Edwards made it through to the Final box of 3, unfortunately at the cost of Moverly slipping a disk in her back and having to go to hospital. Leaving the other two to re enact their National Championship Final with Marshall playing some quality stuff to see herself through to a 3/0 win! Becoming the first Ladies player to hold National and Open titles in the same year!

Finally it was left to the Men's Open to finish things off and it was Mike Harris & James Snell who managed to get through to the final in contrasting styles. Harris having a good battle with hallamshire coach and pro Adam Turner, taking a 50 minute 3/1 win after a slow start and some quality attacking from Turner. In the other semi final Snell started rapidly against Luke Bishop, winning the first 11/0! After that Bishop settled and they had some long exchanges across the net two games, Snell's retrieval and quality straight line hitting proving too much for Bishop to be able to breakdown. Snell winning 3/0.

The final was not the first time these two have met having played each other since they were about 9 years old, but it was the first major final outside of the Devon County Championship that they have played each other in! It was a gruelling first game taking 30 minutes in total, with a real cat and mouse exchange taking place. There were mixed pace exchanges, with both players hitting with variety into all corners of the court. Mike eventually prevailed 13/11. After that the game opened up with both players looking to be more aggressive with a softer ball. Another close game this time went the way of Snell, 11/9. The third was touch and go all the way to 7/7, where another epic rally was won by Harris with a delayed boast to the front right, which caused Snell to twist his back awkwardly. After the break, the players came back on to complete the first rally of the 4th, before Snell had to retire injured. A real shame to end the match that way after over 65 minutes of quality free flowing game play. 
A fantastic weekend of matches, a great bunch of players and a top venue to be competing at. A huge thank you to everyone who was involved, from Hallamshire who hosted us once again, to our event sponsors:

Sheffield Autogates (Lead event sponsor)
Karakal UK (Singles and Doubles event prize provider and Series sponsor)
Abbeydale Brewery (Doubles event mini keg prize provider)
Birford Cable & Harness
Morris & Co Property
Intelligent OH
iPro Sports (shirt provider)

We are planning for next year already and can't wait to make it bigger and better!

Full results can be found on Sporty HQ here: 

​https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-11-Bluebell-Wood-British-Racketball-Open-7th8th-October-Hallamshire

*Full lowdown on the draws below* It's here! The British Racketball Open 2023 at Hallamshire Tennis & Squash Club has arrived and will kick off this weekend. We have over 110 players entered across the various categories and some serious match ups in store. Let's take a look at who are the players to watch out for...
There has been a great uptake in the three Doubles categories - Open, Mixed and O60s. In the Open we have 12 pairings, notable front runners are the experienced partners of Giles/Buckle, Norton/Chappell and Smith/Allingham. Norton and Chappell arguably the standout with their quality ball skill and creativity. Norton again looks like the one to look out for in the Mixed with his partner Fiona Moverly. Moverly coming back on court post new baby, should be very experienced at looking after someone chucking their toys out of the pram... In the O60s the top dogs are definitely regular sparring partners Osborn/Cordeaux who should know each other's game inside out by now, It will be interesting to see whether anyone can get break down their left/right hand combination!

In the Singles events the two top dogs in the Over 75's and Over 70s are top seeds, and both in with the goal of a British Nationals & Open Double for 2023. In the 75s Howard Thompson and the 70's Graham Greensall, two UK Racketball Major event regulars! Speaking of regulars, Graham Holmes and Peter Fielding are seeded to battle it out in the O65s Final, but with the likes of Stephen Burnett and Peter Marsden to get through on the way they have a tough run. Cordeaux and Osborn will have to put their Doubles alliance aside in the O60s, as they are the top ranked two along with Paul Haig in that particular draw. Let's hope for a happy reunion post event!

In the O55's last year's champion Jim Muirhead sits at the top of the draw, but this is one of the stronger depth categories with the likes of Billington/Wardle/Dodds/Rycroft and Francis all in the mix. This one could end up the survival of the fittest by Sunday night! The O50s features a VERY anticipated potential rematch from the British Nationals as Simon Parke & Mike Gregory look to renew their rivalry. Last year's finalists Morris & Wase will look to do some damage to their dreams though so who knows how the last few rounds will pan out! Another strong in depth draw is the O45s, with at least 3/4 guys all who could consider themselves favourites for an Open title. Matt Lowery sits as 1 seed over Adam Giles at 2, but with Jon Davies and Barry Talbot as 3/4s plus others across the line upo this could provide some sticky matchups along the way!

Smaller entry lists in the O40s and O35s has done nothing to reduce the quality of the line ups. The British Nationals Final looks set to be repeated in the 40s between Alexis Smith & Dan Soar which could be a really good battle. Similarly in the O35s, last year's winner Chris Hall is back from injury and he looks set to be the one to beat, Craig Chappell his standout challenger and a fellow ''walking wounded!'' The B Grade event has proved to once again be a popular category, and due to the more open nature of the entry list for this there could be a number of people who could come through as Champion. Needless to say, someone is going to have to do some good mileage over the weekend to come through it!

Our Ladies Open/B Grade draw has had another good uptake with 10 players in. (The format being that the first & second round losers drop into the B Grade, the top 4 finishing out the A Grade.) British National Champion Amber Marshall looks to add the one title to her belt that she's not managed to take yet, but faces stiff competition from the likes of Fiona Moverly, Charlotte Jagger and Elspeth Edwards (to name a few) in order to do so. She made the final last year, can she convert this time?

Finally the Men's Open event has a (strangely) small draw but again with some real quality in it. One of the spiciest of potential match ups is a possible semi final between Luke Bishop and James Snell, two club mates and long time team partners. In the other half current National Champion Mike Harris has to try and get through the likes of Colin Griggs and potentially Hallamshire club coach Adam Turner in order to meet the winner of that match up, in his first British Open appearance! Again a Nationals/British Open doubles is on the cards there.

Needless to say it will be definitely worth tuning into out live Facebook stream across the weekend on our UK-Racketball page, and keeping in touch with our Instagram uodates throughout. You can find the full draws and schedule on Sporty HQ below

https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-11-Bluebell-Wood-British-Racketball-Open-7th8th-October-Hallamshire

THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING EVENT SPONSORS!

A huge thank you to Sheffield Autogates for coming on board to support the event as our Lead event sponsor, alongside our other sponsors in Karakal UK, Birford Cable & Harness, Morris Property and Intelligent OH. It is fantastic to have such a great prize fund to showcase our second Major Racketball event of the season and we hope to see some fantastic players battling it out for it!

Our other categories are very well covered, with some excellent prize support from our lead Series sponsors Karakal UK again for the rest of the Singles grades. Then local business Abbeydale Brewery have very kindly agreed to provide the prizes for all the Doubles categories! Plenty of top prizes up for grabs then.