Nottingham Trent University, a classic Racketlon venue, hosted the second tournament of the 2024 UK Racketlon season, and the final warm-up event before the British Championships in a month’s time.
Men’s A Singles
Starting with the Men’s A, number #1 seed and world champion Luke Griffiths showed ruthless efficiency to dispatch first Stuart Preston, and then Jonny Ritter before tennis, setting up a final with second seed Matthew Davidson. Matt showed similar potency in the earlier rounds in a before tennis victory over James Langworthy, a late substitute for Ross Wilson. James Hempstead proved a slightly tougher task in the semi finals, with Matt requiring fifteen points in tennis, but he wrapped up the victory in style with seventeen points to spare. The final started off a relatively tight affair, with Luke taking both TT and badminton to seventeen and opening up an eight point lead. It was in the squash where the damage was done however, as Luke kept Matt to thirteen points, before soon reaching the required six points in tennis to seal victory.
Third place was taken by Jonny Ritter in impressive fashion over James Hempstead. Despite James taking the squash, Jonny’s dominant TT and solid badminton performance put him in the driving seat, needing only six in tennis as he achieved a second podium finish in as many tournaments.
The closest match of the category was between James Langworthy and Jamie Watkin-Rees for fifth/sixth. Despite Jamie showing his tremendous quality on the TT table to keep James to just four points, Langworthy kept his composure in badminton and squash to bring back the deficit and force a full set of tennis. Tennis was a tense affair till the very end, but experience triumphed over youth, with James Langworthy taking the game 23-21!
L-R Jonny Ritter, Luke Griffiths, Matthew Davidson
Women’s Singles
The Women’s singles featured two groups of three with group A being led by UK #1 Matilda Parslow. Following Luke Griffith’s example, Matilda powered her way to the final with resounding, before tennis victories over first-timers Kate Beaumont and Yuzen Wong. With both Yuzen and Kate being tennis specialists, it certainly wasn’t the easiest introduction to racketlon!
Group B was led by Satarra Thaker, and faced more experienced racketlon opponents in Kirsten Atkinson and Fiona James. This was no matter for Satarra, as she provided strong showings in both badminton and squash to record comfortable victories, and set up a final with Matilda.
In the final, Matilda got off to a strong start with a 21-12 victory in TT, before Satarra used her greater badminton experience to win 21-7 and open up a five point lead going into squash. At the mid-game break Matilda led 11-10, and the game was delicately balanced. In the second half however, Matilda showed incredible poise to pull away, and clinch the game 21-12. In tennis, Matilda reached the required eighteen with an eleven point cushion, showing fantastic form building up to the British Championships.
Yuzen Wong defeated Kirsten Atkinson to take third place – a great achievement on her racketlon debut!
L-R Yuzen Wong, Matilda Parslow, Satarra Thaker
Men’s +40 Singles
A new category for the East Midlands Open was the men’s +40 singles and, as was the case in Letchworth a few weeks ago, the draw promised to deliver one of the closest and unpredictable categories. The draw featured one change from the Letchworth line-up, with winner Mark Steeden out and squash supremo Peter Barton entering instead. TT specialist Keith Lesser was seeded #1 but suffered an early blow, conceding an uncharacteristic fourteen points in TT, which led to an eventual loss to Ed Westmacott by just three points in the first match. Pete Barton started strongly against Simon Lau, with strong TT, squash and tennis performances culminating in a +10 victory.
Pete carried this momentum into his second match, handing another defeat to Keith by a margin of +9. Ed Westmacott faced off against Simon Lau, and a magnificent badminton performance by Simon propelled him into an eight point lead going into squash. This was not enough however, as Ed took a 21-17 victory in a high quality game, before backing it up with steady tennis to win by +6 overall.
This set up a final clash between Peter and Ed and, with both players in such good form, it was difficult to pick a favourite. The early advantage was with Ed, as he racked up 21-16 wins in both TT and badminton. Peter fought his way back into the reckoning by taking squash 21-15 and leaving Ed a target of eighteen in tennis. Ed showed very few nerves however and raced to victory with fifteen points to spare, showing just how dangerous he can be on the tennis court.
The game to decided 3rd/4th typified this fantastically competitive category as Keith and Simon left it all on the court, with close games in three of the four sports, before Keith sneaked the victory by +5.
L-R Keith Lesser, Ed Westmacott, Peter Barton
Men’s +55
The Men’s+55 was also a new category for the East Midlands Open, once again showing that senior racketlon is thriving on the UK tour.
Former World Seniors Singles champion Martyn Langston was seeded #1 and proved his class early on to defeat Lee Gregson before tennis. Nottingham racketlon stalwart Geoff Woods was up against badminton player Gary Lane, and Geoff put in an incredible fightback to take the match +4, despite heading into tennis thirteen points behind! There was no let up for Gary, as he faced number #1 seed Martin in the next game, who showed ruthless control – especially on the TT table and tennis court – to take a +22 victory. Lee Gregson then shook off his first match defeat to power to a +12 win over Geoff Woods, an impressive 21-7 in the TT doing the early damage.
Martyn Langston made it a clean sweep in his final game, defeating Geoff Woods +15 with resounding victories in TT and squash, to take the title.
Whilst first place may have been foreseen, this was certainly not the case in the battle for the rest of the places. In yet another twist, Gary Lane picked himself up from his two previous defeats, to beat Lee Gregson before tennis. This left all the remaining three players with one win and two defeats, meaning we had a gumi-arm playoff for second place on our hands! A rare occurrence, a gumi-arm playoff in a round robin event sees the involved players play one point of each of the 4 sports, against both of the other players. Most points overall wins. Extremely tense to watch, and I’m sure to play! It was Gary who held his nerve to emerge victorious and claim 2nd place – despite an incredible squash rally where he lost grip on his racket, managed to run and pick it up, and carry on in the point!
L-R Lee Gregson, Martyn Langston, Gary Lane
Men’s B Singles
In the Men’s B, number #1 seed Tom Watson started well against first-timer Oliver Watts, proving far too strong in TT to take a +16 win. This set up an intriguing semi final against another highly rated young newcomer to the tour in Rohan Shergill. Rohan had earlier beaten the similarly profiled James Trueman, thanks in part to a brutally efficient 21-4 badminton victory. In their semi final, Tom raced to a 17 point lead after TT, before Rohan showed his skill with the shuttle once more, taking the badminton 21-1. A tight squash affair put Rohan in a strong position going into tennis, and he duly delivered to take the match +11 and storm into the final.
In the other half of the draw, number #2 seed Kieran Shelley was making his return from a long injury lay-off against badminton hot-shot Joseph Scott. Kieran nullified the badminton with big wins in both TT and squash to set up a semi final against Rob Rhodes. Rob had earlier snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, having defeated Charlie Naylor by a single point! Kieran and Rob have a history of epic battles and this was to be no different. After an entertaining badminton encounter featuring numerous dives from both players, Rob was +10 going into squash. Kieran showed his greater class on the glass (back) to win 21-6 and go into tennis ahead by five. Rob fought his way to twenty points, however Kieran held his nerve and edged out the match by just two points!
In the final Kieran started strongest with a 21-13 win in TT, but this was quickly countered as Rohan continued his imperious badminton form to win 21-3. The squash court would usually be a comfortable arena for Kieran, however, feeling the effects of his previous injury and, perhaps with one eye on the British Championships, he retired at the half way point. Congratulations to Rohan for winning his first ever B singles event, and speedy recovery to Kieran – great to see you back competing again!
In the third/fourth playoff, Rob Rhodes faced Tom Watson in a battle of the TT wizards. Yet again, Rob took it to the wire, winning by +2 with a composed 21-10 finish in the tennis, to add to his growing racketlon medal collection.
L-R Rob Rhodes, Rohan Shergill, Kieran Shelley
Men’s C Singles
In a strong men’s C, top seed and World Seniors Mixed Doubles champion Justin Crowther powered to the title. Victories over John Barber and Toby Watson set him up with a final against number #2 seed and TT specialist Leigh Ware. Leigh had beaten Tim Naylor and Mark Brown in earlier rounds with strong showings in TT and squash. Justin proved he was a class above on the day, recovering from defeat in TT to take the two middle sports, before wrapping up a +15 victory with a confident 21-15 finish in the tennis.
Third and fourth place was contested between Toby Watson and Mark Brown. Despite a 21-9 defeat in the badminton, Mark showed strong all-round play to win the other three sports and clinch third place.
It was terrific to see such a strong men’s C made up primarily of first-time players, and whilst the experienced racketloners made their way to the final, we really hope the rest of the field enjoyed their first taste and come back for more in the future!
L-R Mark Brown, Justin Crowther, Leigh Ware
Men’s D Singles
Men’s D saw the early defeats of both seeded players Greg Eden (#1) and Stuart Vincent (#2) to really open up the draw. David Swindell started off with impressive victories over Henry Vernon and then James Vincent, remaining unbeaten in all sports. In the other section of the draw, David Robertson recovered from heavy losses in TT to inflict badminton bagels (scores to 0) in both of his opening games against James Skilleter and Richard Barge. In the final, David Swindell began with a 21-4 victory in TT, before Robertson came charging back with wins in badminton, squash and tennis to secure the men’s D title on debut.
Third place was secured by fellow first-timer Richard Barge, who romped to victory in all four sports against James Vincent.
L-R Richard Barge, David Robertson, David Swindell
Men’s E Singles
In Men’s E first timer Steve Halliday came flying out the blocks with big wins over first the experienced Ray Ryan, and then Michael Mowles. In the other section second seed Patrick Jeffrey sneaked past promising junior Monty Adams by +2 before facing Daniel Taylor, who had recorded a before-tennis victory over Chris Parmar-Saville. This time it was Patrick who was on the wrong side of a tight contest, with Daniel taking the match by a single point!
In the final between Daniel and Steve, Daniel stormed ahead, leading +29 going into squash. Steve fought back to take squash 21-8, but with Daniel requiring just six points in tennis to win, he did so with ease, to take the men’s E title in his first event.
Patrick Jeffrey snapped up third place with victory over Michael Mowles.
L-R Patrick Jeffrey, Steve Halliday, Daniel Taylor
First Timer Singles
In the first timer singles round robin Chun Ho Fu got off to an impressive start with a +19 victory over Neil Franklin, whilst Malcolm Saperia battled to a super-tight +2 victory over Barry Hayman. The next game saw the two winners face one another, however the match had to finish prematurely, with Malcolm being forced to retire following their squash game.
Barry Hayman recovered from his earlier tight loss, to defeat Neil Franklin +19, setting up a final decider between Barry and Chun Ho Fu. TT and badminton were evenly matched games, however Barry won both 21-19 and 21-18 respectively. In the squash, Barry then raced to a 21-4 victory to win before tennis and take the title.
Neil Franklin took third place, and we wish Malcom Saperia a speedy recovery following his earlier retirements.
L-R Barry Hayman, Chun Ho Fu
A massive thanks must go to Sam Barker for the smooth running of yet another successful tournament. Thanks also to Nottingham Trent for once again providing their excellent facilities.
Full results of the East Midlands Open 2024 can be found on Tournament Software and remember to follow UK Racketlon Facebook and Instagram for the latest tournament news and updates.
Happy Racketloning!
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