In the lead up to next weekend's 2026 British Racketball National Championships lets take a look at the contenders, previous winners and what could play out across the draws! First up we investigate our O80s - O60s age group categories...

​All draws here: www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/The-British-National-Racketball-Championships-2026

- O80S: Reigning Champ - Andrew Rugg Gunn.

Andrew returns again at the fantastic age of 87 to try and retain his Nationals title. It has been phenomenal to watch him in action and let's see if he can continue to amaze with his court coverage. He will be hard pushed this year though, with a bumper draw of 7 players - our largest in this category to date - to contend with. Notables are recently aged up Bob Shelley, Howard Thompson and Andrew's Devon compatriot Pete Hamblett, all who have National age group titles to their names. With 3 or 4 best of 5 game matches for the players over the weekend, the winner will certainly have earned it!


- O75s: Reigning Champ - Ian Graham.

Last year's winner Ian returns again in a bid to retain his title for a second year. His 2025 final opponent Graham Greensall is back from injury and keen to hit the ground running on local turf. 2025 British Open runner up Richard Firmin is also in the mix in the third group so we could see an interesting Finals box of three if all make it throigh reasonably unscathed!


- O70s: Reigning Champ - Andy Mitchell.

This is always one of the more evenly balanced categories in the Series, and although Andy returns as top seed, there is no guarantee he will be sat at the top of the pile at the end of Sunday 19th. John Herbetko at 2 seed has proved regularly able to upset the apple cart and sneak wins off of Mitchell, with the 3/4 seeds of Graham Holmes and Paul Loska also with National Championship and Series wins to their names. With some extra dark horses such as Wallington, Pearcey and Hudson Oldnall in the mix too, the tops seeds are going to have to hit the ground running!


- Women's O65s: Reigning Champ - Lesley Sturgess.

Lesley returns once again as the bane of anyone trying to squeeze a National title under her belt. She has been remarkably consistent across her age group categories over the years and carries a wealth of experience of success at this level. It is great to see a group of 4 in this age group, and the likes of Sue Moore, Jan Hazell Hunt (last year's runner up in a very tight battle with Lesley) and Melody Ripley will all be locked in in their attempts to topple this legend of the Women's game.


- O65s: Reigning Champ - Chris Davey.

Davey is absent this year so it does open up the draw for a whole host of contenders. However, his loss has meant the arrival into the age group of John Cordeaux, one of the O60s regular top dogs, and he is very much the one to try to beat. The languid lefty (host and creator of the fantastic Play Squash57 Youtube Channel) has serious pedigree at this level, and previous Champions Mike Phillips (2 seed) and Collis Sheik (3/4 seed) will have their work cut out to take him down. It is a cery competitive line up across the draw however with several of the lower seeded players having reached the semi finals stage of majors in the past. So no easy games for anyone!


- Women's O60s: Reigning Champ - Lesley Sturgess.

Sturgess has stuck to her O65 guns, and in so leaves a great draw of 8 players to battle it out to take their inaugral O60s National title. Nicky Horn from Yorks is back in Majors action and looks to be the odds on favourite for the win, but Lesley's old sparring partner Siobhan Garland at 2 seed will have a few tricks up her sleeve we are sure. Again it is really positive to have an 8 player draw in this category, a sign that the Women's game is picking up impetus!

- O60s: Reigning Champs - John Cordeaux.

With John having moved on up to the O65s, it is his old battle partner (and regular Doubles buddy) Patrick osborn who once again sits as top seed in this draw. Patrick being one of the the most consistent players in the scene across the Series and Major events makes him somewhat of an immovable object at the top of the order. However with Neil Baldwin also bringing a huge amount of skill and quality at 2 seed, plus the recently aged up Nick Billington and Welsh Wizard Richard Murphy at 3/4 seeds, the UK Racketball legend definitely won't have it all his own way. The likes of Jim Muirhead, Martin Greenslade and John Rycroft also sit at the lower end of the seedings, all very capable of doing damage. This is definitely going to be one of the standout draws of the event!


We will bring you Part 2 over the next few days, but as you can see there is loads to get excited about next weekend! A huge thank you to all of our amazing event sponsors for their contribution to this pinnacle of the UK Racketball scene, it should be a brilliant weekend and your backing makes it all possible!

​ROAD TO ENGLAND SELECTION UPDATE - ONE EVENT TO GO!

With just the Cheltenham Open (4th July) left in the current RTS period, let’s take a look at the standings for one final time before it is all decided…

MEN’S OPEN:
QUALIFIED - MIKE HARRIS / BILLY JONES
IN THE MIX - BEN BRYANT / CALLI SMITH / LUKE BISHOP

THE SITUATION:
Ben - 900 points, Calli - 895 points, Luke - 770 points
Two slots remain in the England side.
With all three in Cheltenham, plus the banana skins of Mike Harris and Ali Mutch in the mix, it’s very very tight!
If Luke fails to reach the final then Calli and Ben go through. If he does, then Calli is out and Ben goes through with Luke. If both Calli AND Luke reach the final (technically possible) then Ben is out. 

HOW CLOSE IS THAT?!


WOMEN’S OPEN:
QUALIFIED - AMBER MARSHALL / JASMIN KALAR
IN THE MIX - ALI BILLINGTON / KAREN BEALEY / LINDA PRITCHARD
THE SITUATION:
Ali - 790 points, Karen - 730 points, Linda - 720 points
One slot remains in the England side.
Once again all three players are in the Cheltenham event! 
If Ali reaches the final she goes through automatically. Otherwise, either Linda Karen need to reach the final to overtake her. With the latter two in the same group, whoever can make it through gets the spot!
O40s:
QUALIFIED - PAUL NORTON / RYAN LOSKA / ALEXIS SMITH / ADAM GILES
THE SITUATION:
This is the one and only category where all is set and done! Solid showings from Smith and Giles in Cardiff have secured their spots. Great work guys!

O50s:
QUALIFIED - PHIL HALL
IN THE MIX - STEVE SMITH / ANDY SPEAKE / CHRIS MORRIS / NICK BILLINGTON / CHRIS WASE / PAUL DODDS / ANDY MURRAY 
THE SITUATION:
Steve - 1,325 points, Andy - 1,235 points, Chris M - 1,210 points, Nick - 1,080 points, Chris W - 775 points, Paul D - 545 points, Andy M - 470 points

This is now a slightly safer category than it was before. While Phil is the only one with his spot confirmed, and all the remaining are fighting it out against each other in Cheltenham, there are three spots remaining PLUS there is the likelihood that we will run an England B side in this category too. So for those in the mix above, it’s a battle to see who can come through the three tough group stages to reach the semis / final and guarantee their first team spot! Wase and Dodds are not in Cheltenham so it’s a chance for Muzza to leapfrog them into the B side!

O60s:
QUALIFIED - PATRICK OSBORN / JOHN CORDEAUX / CHRIS DAVEY
IN THE MIX - JIM MUIRHEAD / ROBIN CHIPPERFIELD 
THE SITUATION:

Jim - 1,055 points, Robin - 915 points
Jim isn’t playing Cheltenham so it is up to Robin to pull one out of the bag! He needs to win the Cheltenham event to leapfrog Jim to take the 4th spot in the side. It’s in your hands mate!


O70s:
QUALIFIED - ANDY MITCHELL / JOHN HERBETKO
IN THE MIX - PAUL LOSKA / ROB LATHBURY / RICHARD FIRMIN / PAUL HUDSON OLDNALL / PETER MARSDEN
THE SITUATION:

Paul - 945 points, Rob - 855 points, Richard - 740 points, Paul - 595 points, Peter - 490 points

Bit of a mixed bag this time! Just one spot up for grabs in the A side and Paul Loska should have enough in the bank to hold the other off. 
We will be running an England B team though so there are three more spots up for grabs out of the rest of the players. 
Lathbury & Firmin aren’t playing Cheltenham but should have enough points to be safe. Hudson Oldnall and Marsden are however playing Cheltenham, and if simply put, whoever wins their group match and comes higher in the group will get the last slot!
​
So all in all, lots still to play for on Saturday 4th July, let’s see who can do the business!

On Saturday 20th June we headed back to Cardiff Squash Club for the second edition of the Welsh Open Racketball Championships. This year saw more local entrants than ever before at one of our competitions in Wales, and it was fantastic to see them mixing with our regular travelling players. The game continues to grow steadily across Wales, with a number of clubs now boasting strong box leagues and club night setups. We're excited to see how the sport develops over the coming years.

On to the action! While it wasn't quite as hot as the temperatures forecast for the rest of the week, it was certainly warm enough, and everyone had to battle hard to secure their wins in the heat.

With all draws well subscribed, there was top-quality action throughout the day. The excitement started from match one, where in the A Grade Doubles, Gregory and Giles narrowly escaped defeat against Smith and Cassley, grinding out a hard-fought 2/1, 45-minute victory.

That match set the tone for the rest of the tournament, with plenty of excellent contests taking place across all categories. In fact, only two title winners made it through their draws without dropping a game. In the Men's A and Ladies' events, Mike Harris and Roxy Keshavarz came through unscathed, winning every match 2-0. However, both faced spirited resistance in their finals from Calli Smith and Linda Pritchard respectively.

In all the other draws, the champions had to work hard for their titles. Carl Elsby coming through a tough group stage to eventually take our Frankie Pill in the final. (Great to see another Junior in the mix for these events, great stuff Frankie!) Alexis Smith defeated Mike Gregory 2-1 in the Over 40s, while Andy Speake upset Chris Morris in a titanic 70-minute Over 50s final. Richard Murphy was also pushed all the way by Nick Billington in the Over 60s.

One of the standout matches of the day was the Over 70s final between John Herbertko and Graham Holmes. John emerged victorious 2-1, but both games went to tie-breaks, making it an incredible battle from start to finish. (10/12, 13/11, 12/10!!)
Speake and Holmes then teamed up to win the B Grade Doubles title, while Giles and Gregory overcame some early-morning sluggishness (hangover??) to claim the A Grade Doubles crown.

A huge thank you goes to Cardiff Squash Club, James and Archie Turnbull, and Rhian Davies for hosting us so well. We look forward to returning at the same time next year.

Full results can be found here:
https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-5-2026-Welsh-Racketball-Open-20th-June-Cardiff

Pictures from the day here:
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1971851823762362&type=3

And our Youtube stream of the show court here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNX9bpL4wjU&list=PLnyCpoPOuc9y-GSNN5_Dqfm-ofTEfLGY_

In the meantime, there is still time to enter our July, August and September events. None of them are fully subscribed yet, so check out the links below and get your name in the mix!

BRITISH NATIONALS - 17TH/19TH JULY:
https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/The-British-National-Racketball-Championships-2026

LONDON OPEN BEXLEY - 8TH AUGUST:
https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-7A-London-Racketball-Open-8th-August-Bexley

HARROGATE OPEN SATELLITE - 8TH AUGUST: 
https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-7B-2026-UK-Racketball-Harrogate-Open-Satellite-2026

IPSWICH OPEN SATELLITE - 5TH SEPTEMBER:
https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-8-2026-Ipswich-Open-Satellite-5th-September

We were back on UK Racketball Series action after a little hiatus over April, and it was great to revisit a really friendly and welcoming club in the Peterborough Sports Club.

​With a two month gap since our previous Series event at the start of March, our players were ready and raring to go, and all draws were really busy! This is a crucial period in the Karakal UK Racketball Series calendar as we have the British National Championships looming soon in July, plus only a couple more qualifying events for England selection! So very much time to get down to business and win some tough games...

- In the A Grade, Ted Jeal & Calli Smith (both vying for England selection spots) managed to battle their way through to the final. Both having some decent tests along the way. Ted managing to overturn his 2025 British National Champs quarter final loss to Calli by taking the win 2/0 in an entertaining and flowing final!

- The B Grade was retained by the lefty Sam Morris, who took out regular opponent Tommy Meadows in a great 2/1 win. This is not Sam's first B Grade title, and with a cheeky little Squash57 Levels boost to his name, he may find himself bumped up into the A Grade jungle next time round!

- A really busy (12 in total!) Ladies draw was absolutely fantastic to see. Highlighting the positive increase in numbers we have had in this category in the last 18 months or so, and it was brilliant to have a mix of local and travelling players involved. Including some first timers! England Captain Jasmin Kalar was in fine form, taking the title without dropping a game, though she was pushed well in the final by emerging player Linda Pritchard, who's late season form is making her hopes of England selection look ever more possible!

- The usual battle royale recommenced in the O50s draw, with a lot of the top dogs back in action looking for vital Series and Selection ranking points. The current top 3 in the list - Speake, Smith and Hall all made it through to the finals group, where they proceeded to knock chunks out of each other! Once the dust settled, Andy Speake came through as champion, pipping Steve Smith 16/14 in the 3rd (2/1) to take the win. A quality effort to win through such a strong draw!

- With Osborn and Cordeaux sitting this one out, the O60s draw was wide open and there was a great chance for a bunch of players to scoop up some key points. Jim Muirhead and Darren Withey getting past some tricky early rounds to set up an important final, with both needing a title to really start to cement their selection chances. Muirhead playing a blinding match to beat Withey 2/0, showing that he could be a tricky customer and one to watch out for when it comes to the O60s Nationals in July...

- A great 8 draw in the O70s event feature a top line up of travelling regulars and some very tight matches across the day. National and British Open Champion Andy Mitchell not having it all his own way with a tough battle vs Paul Clarke in particular. the other box saw Graham Holmes and Paul Hudson-Oldnall tieing at the top, Paul scraping though based on overall points won across the matches! Mitchell however then reasserted his class and current dominance in the category, taking the final 2/0. A great effort by all though!

- The Doubles always throws up some entertaining fare, and this event was no exception, with 4 pairings in the A and then 6 in the B! Every single category covered, with players from the A and Ladies through to the O70s all involved, a great way to show how inclusive Racketball doubles can be! In the end, the A Grade pairing of Jeal & Marshall were too strong for the rest of the challengers, not dropping a game on their way through to getting the win. The Surrey duo of Hall & Burton battled through some great B Grade matches, managing to win 2/1 in each round, taking out the Dover team of Meadows & Tyler in a great final. (Tommy stepping in to replace poor Nic Barnes who managed to break one of his fingers in the very first doubles match of the day! Get fixed up ASAP buddy!)

A brilliant day of Series action with a fantastic group of players! A huge thanks to everyone who took part and made it all so fun. Also thanks to Andy & Tanya Ruff and the Peterborough Club crew who made us feel so welcome across the day. Bacon sandwiches to die for! We look forward to coming back again in 2027.

Full results from the day can be found here: www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Event-4-2026-Cambridge-Open-16th-May-Peterborough

And pictures from some of the matches on our Facebook page here (big thanks Michelle Meadows for taking the photo duty on the day!!): www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1940343110246567&type=3

See you all at the A/B/Ladies Intercounty Teams, or at the Welsh Open in Cardiff in June!