Photo Credit: Alan Spink – Action Photography
Tournament Organiser Keith Lesser looks to the weekend’s draws and reports:
Welcome back to the hallowed halls of the Redbridge Sports Centre – a true coliseum of champions and a proud former host of the Racketlon World Doubles Champs and the Champions League. If these walls could talk, they’d scream about epic rallies and titanic tussles from years gone by.
An International Flavour (and a Travel Warning!)
We’ve got a seriously spicy mix of players this year – with a handful flying in from across Europe. To our travelling amigos: don’t forget your ETA if you haven’t sorted it yet! It’s £16 and mandatory in the UK from April 9th onwards.
Star-Studded Showdown
Hold onto your rackets – this isn’t your average challenger. We’ve got four World Number Ones playing:
Men’s Singles WR1
U21 Men’s WR1
U18 Men’s WR1
O40s Men’s WR1
That’s not to mention the WR2s in U11 and 70+ too.
Legends mixing with mortals – and the real magic? We’ll all be battling it out in our ABCD categories, brushing shoulders (and perhaps trading shots) with the very best.
Courts Galore – But Watch That Knock-Up
Yes, we’ve got loads of courts. No, that doesn’t mean you get a 10-minute Wimbledon warm-up. Three-minute knock-ups or face the wrath of the schedule overlords. You’ve been warned.
Doubles Trouble – Elite Showdowns Incoming
The doubles draw? Five groups of four in a manic Monrad-fest – 40 players, four hours, full throttle.
Bookie favourites:
Griffiths/Bohm
Wilson/Patterson
Parslow/Thaker
But hey, stranger things have happened. Don’t sleep on an upset.
Ladies A Singles – Wide Open War
A fierce 4-player round robin:
Parslow starts as favourite, but Thaker, Atkinson and Patterson won’t be rolling over. Expect fireworks.
Seniors
Keith Lesser, tournament organiser and current O40 World Number One, won’t have it easy.
He faces a top-tier field featuring:
Oliver Close (Paul Twisterling slayer)
Rakesh Gupta (Polish Open podium)
Izzy Bramhall (former world silver elite singles)
Mark Steeden (Kent squash royalty)
A shame we won’t see Simon May v Oliver Close after an unfortunate withdrawal, but the field still sizzles.
Men’s A Singles
Griffiths is WR1 for a reason – but Junior WR1 Basti Bohm is breathing fire after a massive win over Kresten Hougaard, the reigning World Race champ. First, though, he’s got to deal with the lightning hands of Jermaine Manners.
Then there’s Nico Lenggenhager vs Ritter – a slugfest in squash and badminton, with Lenggenhager hoping to cruise through TT. This one’s tight.
Special thanks to Jack Bishop – schedule maestro and all-round legend – rewarded with a cheeky first-round match against WR1 Griffiths. Not a happy bunny.
Juniors Watch
Flatman or Dobson – if you fancy a punt, those four are ones to watch.
11 Categories. One Glorious Tournament.
Expect drama, dingers and dazzling rallies. And fear not – Big Man Lazarus is behind the desk, keeping everything tighter than a squash nick.
See you on court.
Keith