Ebbisham Open 2025 – Review

Ebbisham Open in memoriam of Andy Griffiths

For 2025, the Ebbisham Open was run in memoriam of Andy Griffiths. Andy was a cherished member of the UK Racketlon community for well over a decade, representing England at the 2014 World Team Championships in Poland as well as introducing his two sons, Leon and Luke (you may have heard of them), to the sport. And yet, despite this success, Andy’s most well known contribution to our sport was his abundance of kindness and generosity which still drives players on today. Andy was always the first to congratulate someone of their improvement in a weaker sport, or to praise them as being a fantastic player of their best sport and he could be seen roaming around tournament venues watching anyone he knew, young or old, and vocally cheering them on through matches. Andy was an incredible example of how to carry yourself both in sport and in the wider world beyond.

Sadly, on 16th February 2024, Andy lost his 3 and a half year battle to Myeloma Cancer leaving behind his wife Suzie, his two boys Leon and Luke, as well as further family and a huge number of friends.

It is because of this that we ran this event in support of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Andy visited the Royal Marsden in Sutton throughout his illness and received incredible care and kindness from all the staff he encountered through the most difficult of times. 

UK Racketlon proceeds from this event have been donated to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, and we are also delighted to announce that more than £500 has been raised for the charity via donations on the day and through tournament software.

We were honoured to be joined by lots of Andy’s family at the event, with Luke and Leon participating, and Andy’s sister Dawn and his best friend Simon presenting the awards.

Men’s A Elite Singles

Winner: Leon Griffiths

Runner Up: Luke Griffiths

The men’s A was headed up by seeds Griffiths and Griffths in two groups of 3. Leon cruised through his group to reach the final, not dropping a sport against opponents Langworthy and Bispham. Luke had a tougher time, losing both squash sets vs Krzystyniak and Simpson, but getting the tennis points he needed to set up a Griffiths Griffiths final, as seen many times before on both the UK and international tour. On this occasion, it was world number 1 Leon who dominated, again not losing a sport against his brother Luke, to win the Ebbisham Open in memory of their father Andy Griffiths. 

James Simpson came third after a spirited fight vs James Langworthy, needing 19 in the tennis.

Women’s A Elite Singles

Winner: Holly Ranson

Runner Up: Matilda Parslow

Due to a late pull out, the ladies’ A was a 3 person draw. National badminton champion Georgina Bland was a newcomer in this draw, taking on the tough opponents of Matilda Parslow and Holly Ranson, two of the UK’s top ranked women. She fought well against both opponents, with a bagel in badminton vs Matilda and only losing 7 points in badminton to Holly. The final between Holly and Matilda was hotly contested, with Holly’s improvement in squash evident as she took 12 points off Matilda, meaning she only needed 6 points in tennis to take the title.  

Men’s B Singles

Winner: Raif Fontanelli

Runner Up: Kelvin Tse

U18 junior Raif Fontanelli dominated in the men’s B round robin, winning all his matches and being challenged closely by Kelvin Tse, winning +10 in the final. Andrew Heath beat Christophe Firth in a tight match to come 3rd.

Women’s B Singles

Winner: Jess Johnson

Runner Up: Kayleigh Chapman

Newcomer and squash player Jess Johnson showed her skills in the middle two sports to beat Candice and Kayleigh to the women’s B title. Kayleigh beat Candice in a very tight match to take 2nd place.

Men’s C Singles

Winner: Fergus Baird

Runner Up: Ben Richards

The men’s C was an 8 draw with both seeds knocked out in the semi finals. The final was contested between Fergus Baird and Ben Richards, with Fergus winning in a close match, his squash skills countering Ben’s badminton to make it a table tennis and tennis battle.

Men’s D Singles

Winner: Stuart Vincent

Runner Up: Cameron Firth

Men’s D category was notable for two promising performances from relative newcomers in Neil Hard and Cameron Firth.

Neil had played Racketlon once a few years ago and vowed to improve his tennis before coming back and so it proved. His strong badminton and tennis performances against a couple of experienced players Ray Ryan and Steve Halliday got Neil 3rd place. In the lower half of the draw, young Cameron had stepped up into a men’s category and strong results in TT and tennis  got him into the final. However, top seed Stuart Vincent had produced solid performances throughout the day and managed to get the 6 points needed in the tennis to claim the gold medal.

Juniors

Winner: Jack Ennis

Runner Up: Henry Dobson

Two groups of 3 in the U14s saw Jack Ennis and Henry Dobson make the final. Henry fought off a tough battle from his younger brother Sebastian, with a total score of 77-71 (that’s a lot of points played!) and Jack showed his tennis ability to overcome newcomer and squash player Sophie Manson. In the final, Jack’s tennis and table tennis proved too strong for Henry and he ran away with the U14s title. Sophie beat Sebastian to come 3rd.

First Timer Doubles

First Timer Doubles is usually the first category to fill up at Ebbisham, and that was the case this time also. Joint winners from last year Shaun & Samantha and Nicole (this time with new partner Stefan) entered again, but alas the competition was much stronger this time from outside the club. Paul and Claire have a strong pedigree in badminton and squash, and although local members Bridget & Paul managed to beat them in squash, it was too late as the former quickly got the 8 points in tennis for overall victory. Nicole and Stefan won the battle for 3rd place over Shaun & Samantha.

A huge thank you must go to tournament organiser Ray Ryan, to Wendy and Emma Ranson who helped run the desk, and to Ebbisham Sports Club – wonderful facilities and they even brought the sun out for us!

Full results can be found here: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=c2e030ab-2439-4394-952d-cc4d095bb492

 Entry is open for:

The Sprint Championships in Keele (perfect prep for the World Champs!): https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/tournament/EF7868E0-501E-4964-965C-EFE8EFB50993
The York Open: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/tournament/2EAA3F2D-06AD-4F33-A0BB-B5D4D558CAA6