The Surrey Classic 2025 – Review

The Surrey Classic 2025 – Review

by | Oct 7, 2025 | News

 

The Surrey Classic 2025 Report

We returned to The Bourne Club for the second year under the shining sun (no storm Amy thankfully!), where we had double Firth titles (Christophe in C grade and Cameron in U18) plus wins for James Simpson and Matilda Parslow in the Elite categories, Rickie Hardcastle (Men’s B), and Izzy Bramhall (+55s).   

 

The men’s A was a four player round robin, with racketlon stalwarts Jack Bishop and Jon Spinks joined by last year’s runner up James Simpson and recent Oxfordshire B grade winner Jack Taylor. All the Js.. and all to play for! 

Jack Taylor showed his recent improvements, with solid wins over Jack B and Jon to set up a final match (and turns out, the actual final) against James Simpson. In the final, James was unfazed by Jack’s table tennis, which had upset both Jack B and Jon earlier in the day, with James winning an impressive 21-6. Jack got his revenge in the badminton with a 21-2 win, however James’s squash is ‘not bad’, as some may say, and he equalled his table tennis win of 21-6 to need 11 points in the tennis. The tennis was very entertaining, with Jack trying his best to move James all around the court with many good drops and lobs, however James was solid and reached his 11 points comfortably. A good win for James and a great finish for Jack in his first A grade!

 

The women’s round robin featured three racketlon regulars, Jo Shelley, Matilda Parslow and Ellie Thomas, along with singles newcomer (but Ebbisham first timer doubles winner!) Claire Royall.

 Matilda recorded some good wins over teammates Jo and Ellie, not needing to take out her tennis racket to take the title for the 2nd time. Jo beat Ellie to take 2nd place in an exciting match, with close fought battles in the first three sports. An excellent squash set finishing 22-20 to Jo meant that she needed just 5 points in tennis for the win. Claire put up an excellent fight in her first singles event, with excellent badminton wins (all <8!) and reaching double figures in tennis in two of her matches.  

 

Newcomer Nathan Wooster was joined by 3 tough opponents in another round robin for the men’s B event. Ricky Hardcastle battled through with a +2 win over Paul Puget with some incredible tennis nerves, winning 21-7 to secure the win which would also give him the title. Paul Puget beat James Trueman to secure 2nd place with solid badminton and squash throughout. 

 

The seniors 55+ podium ended up exactly the same as last year – with Malcolm Sapeira in 2nd place and Izzy Bramhall storming into 1st. Izzy’s performance was impressive, not needing to play tennis and only dropping more than 10 points in one single squash set (vs Malcolm). 065 GB squad members Ray Ryan and Phil Pinto rounded out the set, with a fantastic battle between the two for 3rd place, with Ray emerging as the victor in a points-filled match. 

 

#1 seed Christophe Firth, who had seen heartbreak at Oxfordshire recently losing on a gumi in the C grade final, came back strong and got the win! He had two tough matches on the way to the final, needing strong tennis victories in both, before beating newcomer (other half of the first timer doubles victors in Ebbisham) Paul Aylen in a very tight match, with some very high quality tennis. Tim Fitches beat Gael Guetard to take 3rd place. 

With another category mirroring last year’s event, Cameron Firth stormed to the win in the U18s, having won the U14s category last year. Joseph Fitches (last year’s 3rd place) came second, with newcomer Fin Hazeldine in 3rd. Samuel, at just 10 years old, held his own against the older boys!

A huge thank you to Kieran Shelley for organising and running a very smooth tournament, and to The Bourne Club for hosting us again.

You can see the full results here: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=d428ee6b-97c9-41a8-8f24-c0b7436c9f06

 All tournaments open for entry can be found here: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/tournaments 

Copyright © 2024 Racketlon. All rights reserved |  Web Design by Reforest Hosting

This website is powered entirely by renewable energy

Oxfordshire Open 2025 – Review

Oxfordshire Open 2025 – Review

by | Sep 29, 2025 | News

 

Oxfordshire Open 2025

James Pope reports:

Rob Rhodes claimed his first UK Racketlon senior tour title with victory at the Oxfordshire Open, while Ellie Thomas and Anant Gupta claimed the Elite titles. There were also wins for Joesph Fitches (U14s),  River Fontanelli (Girls U14s), Rhys Melville (Men’s D), Jack Taylor (Men’s B) and most dramatically of all Ivan Parslow (Men’s C). On a glorious equinox day as the sun shone, the UK Tour arrived at St Edwards School in Oxford, for one of the highlights of the season. All the results can be found here. 

 

 In the Women’s A, Ellie Thomas was top seed in the four woman box, joined by Beth Milburn, Olivia Clark and Daniela Ellis, as fellow ladies Matilda Parslow and Jess Johnson gave the men a run for their money! Beth and Ellie both came past Olivia and Daniela, with some entertaining matches not least the squash between Beth and Daniela, finishing a lung busting 24-22 to Beth. This helped set up an effective final in the box between Ellie and Beth. Ultimately, Ellie had just too much for Beth, dominating her particularly in squash, and taking the win to get her 2nd Oxfordshire title. 

 

 An 8-draw monrad awaited the Men’s A where top seeds Anant Gupta and James Hempstead both progressed to the semi-finals to be joined by James Simpson and Kieran Shelley, however our seeded pair were not troubled by their opponents as they progressed to the final. It was a gripping final, the TT (21-9 to Gupta) and the squash (21-9 to Hempstead) cancelled each other out, but perhaps the highlight of the final was a stunning badminton battle. Both players exhibited incredible attack and defence, but you could see the benefit to both players of being the one on top. The match see-sawed and it came down in favour of Gupta, a 23-21 victory. Ultimately, that meant the top-seeded Anant held a slender 2 point lead into the tennis, however it would prove to be a relative formality as Anant cruised to a 21-9 victory and took home the Oxfordshire title, his second in the Men’s A. 
The Men’s B also featured a final between the top 2 seeds, as top seed Jack Taylor took on second seed Matilda Parslow. After Tilda edged the TT 21-18, Jack’s incredible badminton stole the show. Having already demolished James Trueman 21-2 (leaving James a little stunned), he handed out a similar thrashing 21-1 to Tilda, and after also taking the squash 21-18, he needed and swiftly earned the two points on the tennis court to claim the win. A third Men’s B title for Jack, and you would suspect a last, as he will be surely taking those epic badminton skills into the Men’s A at future events.  
Mens doubles 2nd and 3rd place

The closest final of the day was found in the Men’s C, where Ivan Parslow faced Christophe Firth in the final. After the pair traded the TT and badminton 21-5 each, Ivan won the squash 21-12, meaning he would need 13 for victory in the tennis. Christophe held his nerve as the scores got tight to win that tennis 21-12 and set up a gumi-arm. Your humble scribe did not witness the gumi-arm, but big sister Matilda assures me that it was an ‘extremely tense’ rally in which neither player was going for the shots (a bit like the rest of the tennis) and ultimately Ivan came out victorious to claim the title, by the barest of margins. 

 

British Championships Womens Doubles Podium

 

The Men’s D final featured James Clarke and Rhys Melville, who both came through their 3-player boxes to reach the final. Rhys took the TT, before James struck back with confident badminton and squash victories. However, Rhys came back well in the tennis and claimed the win with an 18-7 victory to claim the title.  

British Championship Podium - Mixed Doubles A

In the U14s, Joesph Fitches and Jack Soper came through their respective three player boxes to reach the final, including a win for Joesph over his GB U14s 2’s team mate Millie Rhodes. However, in the final Joesph had too much for Jack and claimed his second junior title on the UK Tour. 

 

Men's +40s 1st and 2nd place

With two girls also in this competition, Millie and River Fontanelli battled for the Girls U14 crown as well. After trading the opening sports 21-18 a piece, River showed her brilliance on the squash court, winning 21-4 and leaving Millie with too much to do on the tennis court, to claim her first title on the UK tour. 

Men's +40s 1st and 2nd place
But, all Rhodes do only lead to Victory, and we finish with Rob in the Over 40s. Having defeated his GB O40s 2’s team mate Tim Fitches (and exacting some family revenge) he faced Racketlon veteran Rakesh Gupta in the final. Rakesh, having survived a surprising (and seriously it was really surprising, even for James) comeback in the tennis from James Pope to win by 3 points to reach the final. It was a cracking final, as with several of our finals at this event our competitors shared the opening sports, and so Rakesh took a slender 1 point lead into squash. Here however, Rob delivered what he described as his “career highlight on a squash court” in that match, he won 21-12 and needed just 14 for his first Seniors title (and first UK Tour win since Oakham 2022). 

 

Mens Senior Doubles 1st & 2nd place

A special mention must go to the huge number of members of the same families playing at this event – we had the Firths, the Fitches, the Fontanellis, the Guptas, the Parslows, the Coulsons and the Rhodes! 

Congratulations to all our winners, and a big thanks to Peter Browning and Jane Galsworthy for running another great Oxfordshire Open and a huge thanks to St Edwards School for hosting us. If you are in and around the Oxford area, Peter and Jane organise regular training sessions -possibly the secret to their 2025 County Championship victory – so do get in touch! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2024 Racketlon. All rights reserved |  Web Design by Reforest Hosting

This website is powered entirely by renewable energy

World Team Championships 2025 – Review

World Team Championships 2025 – Review

by | Aug 12, 2025 | News

(Most of) GB1 and GB2 celebrate their victories in the World Cup and the Nations Cup.

Racketlon World Team Championships 2025

James Pope reports:

Your heart is beating, your lungs are bursting, you look down at your all blue shirt, the flash of colour around the flag, and then you look up and see a wave of similarly clad people, your teammates, cheering you on. Racket up, deep breath, time for the next point. It is just different once the team event rolls around.

After three brilliant days in Rotterdam for the World Singles Championships (read Matilda Parslow’s review here) with  a vibrant array of shirts in a variety of different colours, it was time for the Victoria Squash Club to become decked in national team colours. Reds from Austria, Norway and Denmark, black from Team USA and Germany, teal for Hong Kong, dark blue for Sweden and the blues of France and GB.
You can feel it in the air. The intensity steps up just that little notch, there are no quiet matches now, and every match has team mates, parents, friends, partners and kids waving flags and cheering everyone on.

 

11 events, 11 titles to be won:  the three open competitions (the World Cup, Nations Cup and Challenge Cup); four junior events (U12s, U14s, U16s and U21s); and four senior events (O40s, O45s, O55s and O65s).
GB were in the hunt for medals, and especially for two titles in the O40s and O65s categories that we had never won before.

 

Juniors: Battle of the Classic Nations

Germany, Britain, Austria and France; four of the classic nations of Racketlon. Across the teams and across the age groups we have had our battles with these nations and in 2025 it was to be no different in the juniors.
.
..
First up we have the U12s, which featured six teams in two boxes. GB1 (Henry Dobson and Charlie Flatman) stormed to top spot in their group with big wins over their Germany 2 and Czech Republic opponents. GB2 (Sebastian Dobson & Tylor Li) had a tougher task facing France (including U12 World Champion Clement Augereau), but the boys displayed some excellent badminton to secure second place, so GB1 played France in the final and GB2 faced Germany 2 for bronze. The bronze medal match was hard fought and Tylor came agonisingly close to pulling off a phenomenal heist – he had 8 points (in first to 11) when his German opponent reached the 4 they needed for the win. France claimed the gold in the final, with the British boys just unable to pip the World Champion in particular in the final.
.
.

There were ten teams in the U14s including two British teams. GB1 (Ed Baker & Henry Flatman), seeded fourth, reached the semi-finals with victory in the quarters over France 3, but alas GB2 (Millie Rhodes and Joseph Fitches) were unable to come past Austria 3. France 1 (featuring U14s World Champion, Lucas Augereau) then defeated GB1 in the semi-finals, and would go on to secure the title. GB1 recovered to earn a superb bronze defeating Austria 2 by winning all three rubbers. 
.
.

A tough draw for the U16s where GB1 (Daniel Austin and Cameron Firth) faced second seeds Czechia in the first round, and it was unfortunately a first round defeat for them in that competition, which was won Austria, but the boys roared back to secure fifth place beating Austria 2 and France 2 in the consolation round robin. 
.
. 

Finally, we come to the U21s, with GB1 (Anant Gupta, Chase Burgess, Cameron Leighton and Holly Ranson) dominating their group with Sweden and Austria, while GB2 (Thomas Agombar, Raif Fontanelli and Ellie Thomas) came second to Germany in their group, defeating Austria 2. It was a tight affair in the bronze medal match, with GB2 just falling short in a close match with Austria 1 (which included Elite team player Leonard Prager). It was a similar case for the GB1s as they were edged out by Germany 1 (who called on Bastian Bohm and Alina Reissenauer in their side) in a keenly contested final. That left the Brits with three medals from the four junior events, but no golds for the first time in the history of the World Team Championships. However, with five debutants and many players just stepping up in age group, experience has been gained and these players will be back in 2026, older, wiser and no doubt hungry for the gold! 

 

U12 1 - Charlie Flatman and Henry Dobson

U14 Henry Flatman and Ed Baker

U21 1 Chase Burgess, Anant Gupta, Holly Ranson, Cameron Leighton

U21 2 Thomas Agombar, Raif Fontanelli, Ellie Thomas

U16 Cameron Firth and Daniel Austin

U14 2 Millie Rhodes and Joseph Fitches

U12 2 Sebastian Dobson and Tylor Li

Seniors: Completing the Sets

As we rolled into Rotterdam, GB had won both the O45s and O55s team titles four times apiece, however we had never won the O40s or O65s titles.

For the O55s (Simon Lau, Simon Brown, Rakesh Gupta, and Andy Stenson) it was a tough opening draw in the 8 draw Monrad that saw them face Hungary (including Vets legends Sákovics, Nandori and Matecsa) and the second seeds polished off the Brits on their way to winning yet another O55s title. The Brits recovered to beat Sweden and Netherlands to claim fifth place.

The O45s was an interesting draw with just three sides entered, GB and a brace of French sides. However France 2 preferred to play the Challenge Cup, so that left a Friday mid-afternoon final between GB and France (we had a few of these on reflection!). It got tense in the final as they headed to the clay court tennis to decide who would be the victor, but the GB team (Mark Steeden, Izzy Bramhall, Peter Barton, Jon Foulds and Ed Westmacott) held their nerve to secure the title and back up the World Title this team won last year, and ensuring that four of the last five O45s titles have been won by the Brits! This however wasn’t the end of the story for the plucky O45s, but more on that later…

Looking up to the O65s, and there were plenty of teams in action. GB1 (Martyn Langston, Duncan Marlow and Julian Clapp) faced GB2 (Ray Ryan and Phil Pinto), Denmark and France in a four team round robin. GB1 were unstoppable, cruising past all three opponents with ease, while the GB2s dominated their match with France to secure a bronze medal in the event. That ticked off one of our two missing titles in the senior team events, and a total of five medals out of six years of O65s teams competition. 

So, at last we turn ourselves to the O40s competition, an 8 draw Monrad event featuring GB1 (Keith Lesser, Alice Flatman, Ray Jordan, Peter Browning, Dave Edgar and Jeremy Krzystyniak), GB2 (James Pope, Leigh Ware, Tim Fitches, Sarah Ball, Rob Rhodes and Andy Heath) and the O45s, who were doubling up on events. The opening round saw GB1, GB O45s, France and France O45s all secure wins (France O45s defeating GB2), leaving a brace of Britain vs France semi-finals. The GB1s overcame France O45s, while GB O45s overcame top seeds France (I hope you are keeping up here), making it an all British final and ensuring GB had secured the title before a racket had been swung in anger. However, we did need to know who would claim it, the O40s or the O45s.
In a thrilling final, which lurched one way and then the other, the O40s took a 21 point lead into squash and emerged with only a 2 point lead into tennis. However, a dreamy set of tennis from Keith Lesser (much needed after Mark Steeden had bageled him in the squash) and an excellent win from Alice Flatman in her tennis against Izzy Bramhall put GB O40s in the box seat, with a 3 point or better win needed in the doubles and 2nd singles to ensure victory. That victory came as Jordan & Browning decapitated the Barton/Foulds resistance (almost literally in the case of Pete Barton after a volley by Ray) and won 11-7. GB O40s prevailed with GB O45s settling for one World title and one silver medal, not a bad return for either side!

O65 1 Martyn Langston, Julian Clapp, Duncan Marlow

O65 2 Phil Pinto, Ray Ryan

O40 1 Peter Browning, Alice Flatman, Jeremy Krzystyniak, Dave Edgar, Keith Lesser, Ray Jordan

 O45 Ed Westmacott, Izzy Bramhall, Jon Foulds, Peter Barton, Mark Steeden

O45 Peter Barton, Izzy Bramhall, Mark Steeden, Jon Foulds, Ed Westmacott

O55 Simon Lau, Rakesh Gupta, Andy Stenson, Simon Brown

O40 2 Tim Fitches, Andy Heath, James Pope, Rob Rhodes, Leigh Ware, Sarah Ball

Open Teams: Just beat the French

It was Friday afternoon and the rallying call went around the GB Team WhatsApp group, “Remember everyone, it’s important to beat the French”, – France and Great Britan are the two leading forces in terms of Racketlon players and tours. As you have read already, that was achieved by the O45s, and it occurred in the O65s (twice) and the O40s (twice again), but what about our Open teams?

GB4 and GB5 were competing in the Challenge Cup, the third tier event (won by GB4 last year), but it was a tough pair of opening draws with GB5, boasting 4 debutants, (Kieran Shelley, Ishan Bairoliya, Ricky Hardcastle, Jordan Marcus, Callum Mitchell and Kayleigh Chapman) losing to a very strong France 6 team in their opener (France 6 would finish fifth defeating France 3 on the way). It was similarly hard for GB4 (Johnny Bispham, David Bennett, Alistair Prades, Jack Taylor and Jo Shelley), who faced a very handy USA 2 team in their opener who nicked the match by 8 points. Team USA would go on to play India 1 and Hong Kong sides, highlighting how international the World Teams competition, especially in the Open categories, is becoming. GB4 finished 9th, and GB5 in 17th. 

In the Nations Cup, GB2 and GB3 were on the hunt for victory. However, GB3 (Jack Bishop, Reuben Cox, Henry Jones, Rohan Shergill, Jon Spinks, Susie Dilloway and Kirsten Atkinson) faced a huge challenge in Hong Kong 1 in the opening round. They made a great go of it, but it was always a hard task for a nation’s third team against a first team. The GB3 team went on to have cracking matches with Czechia 1 and Norway 1, in a brutally hard Nations Cup. GB2 (Alex Du Noyer, James Simpson, Jamie Watkins-Rees, Ross Wilson and Mollie Patterson) started up against Austria 2 and a big victory in the match set up a semi-final against Hungary. The Hungarians couldn’t stop GB2 either and the rolled into a final, where they would face France 2… 

In the World Cup, GB1 (Matilda Parslow, Duncan Stahl, Matthew Davidson, Anant Gupta, Leon Griffiths, Luke Griffiths, Holly Ranson and Jonny Ritter) were looking to go one further than last year when they were runners-up to Sweden, and the fates of the draw meant last year’s finalists were drawn against each other in the first round. It wasn’t to be the case again for Sweden as the GB1 journey got going with a great win, a highlight the Parslow squash and tennis vs World Championships runner-up Anna-Klara Ahlmer. Facing familiar foe Austria in the semi-final,  the experience of the GB side shone through in their win against the youthful Austrian side. In some ways it reminded me of when Austria, boasting the likes of Seehofer and Windischberger, defeated a British side with young Griffiths brothers back in 2018. Defeat this year, but a great learning experience for the Austrians. The bottom half of the draw saw France face off against first Germany and then 2023 champions Denmark in their semi-final, so they too would face the Brits in the final for the World Championship Title. 

Nations Cup Final, GB2 vs France 2; World Cup Final, GB1 vs France 1. The two current Racketlon super-powers were going head to head for the two highest open titles. Back-to-back on the show courts, it was a great morning to be mic in hand on Streamster. In the Nations Cup, it did feel too close to call, but Ross Wilson got the team off to a flyer with a stunning set of table tennis, winning 12-10 whereas a year earlier he had lost 11-8, a five point swing which gave the team the energy they needed. The juggernaut continued and it rolled its way onto the tennis court, where the commentary team were able to find a gap in the World Cup final to switch to the outside clay as Mollie Patterson scored the winning point for GB2 to seal the Nations Cup for GB2, a first win since 2019 in Leipzig. 

 

In the World Cup final, it also felt too close to call. French lady Myriam Enmer had been on fire all week and was now World Champion again, Sylvain Ternon had beaten Leon just 6 weeks earlier in Turkey, Luke Griffiths must surely have emptied his tank taking on Ratzer, Hageraats and then Leon in the singles. Would GB go one step further than in 2023 and 2024, where they had come runner-up, the gold remaining elusive. It was our GB World Champion first up against Ternon, the historic first ever joint world number 1s were head to head and it was edgy. Leon took the win and GB held the lead throughout the rest of the TT into the badminton. Back to the number 1s and Sylvain showed his class against Leon on the badminton court, it was no surprise but it did leave the live match score all square between the teams. On the commentary, Kieran and James mused that the match between Sylvain and Leon would be tight, and the doubles would be tight; so really it was  battle between Luke and Damian Andre (Men’s Singles 2) and Myriam and Tilda in the Women’s Singles. We felt that Myriam needed the big win here in the badminton, to give the French side the breathing room they needed. She did win, but Tilda got 6, and after a tight doubles badminton with Matt and Jonny sqeaking the win, Luke strolled onto court with GB just 3 points behind. He then produced a stunning badminton performance and gave his opponent no openings, winning 11-1 to get GB on their way. The squash was all one way traffic, four rubbers, four wins and another 23 points in favour of the Brits. They went to the tennis courts needing just 15 points for the World Cup title. Leon got 6 points with Sylvain battling hard, and if Myriam, a highly skilled tennis player, could do a job on Tilda then would the Brits get twitchy? Clearly, Tilda as captain thought it wasn’t a day to find out – she delivered the tennis of her life, brutal straight shots on both wings and while she couldn’t seal that final point, she left a mark defeating the World Singles Champion overall in the final. That left it to Jonny Ritter and Matthew Davidson to finish the job and they succeeded in earning the solitary point. The only time the GB1s came unstuck was when Luke Griffiths thought he could buy his lunch with his room card….

 In the end, two brilliant matches brought down the curtain on a brilliant week for UK Racketlon. A series of great singles wins, the two Vets team titles we were missing from our collection and finally the Nations Cup and World Cup victories, and not to mention two victories over the French! The FIR will release a medal table showing that we were dominant in the Singles, dominant in the Teams and even after the additional junior classes are included in a few weeks time, we will still be highly likely to top the overall table once again. 

 

A huge thank you to everyone that makes the Teams happen, that is parents and partners, the selection committee, every player who rocks up to support and coach another GB team when they could be in the bar resting. As a unit, UK Racketlon comes together and it makes a difference to every single team, so a thank you to all of you, on and off the court.

 

GB1 Duncan Stahl, Matilda Parslow, Jonny Ritter, Leon Griffiths, Luke Griffiths, Matthew Davidson

GB2 Alex Du Noyer, James Simpson, Mollie Patterson, Jamie Watkin-Rees, Ross Wilson

GB3 Kirsten Atkinson, Rohan Shergill, Henry Jones, Jon Spinks, Reuben Cox, Jack Bishop, Susie Dilloway

GB4 Jack Taylor, David Bennett, Jo Shelley, Johnny Bispham, Alistair Prades

GB5 Kayleigh Chapman, Ricky Hardcastle, Jordan Marcus, Ishan Bairoliya, Kieran Shelley, Callum Mitchell

World Singles Championships 2025 – Review

World Singles Championships 2025 – Review

by | Aug 11, 2025 | News

Luke Griffiths (L) vs Leon Griffiths (R) in the final of the World Singles Championships 2025 at the Victoria sports centre in Rotterdam.
Photo credit: Gerhard Nel

Racketlon World Singles Championships 2025

GB once again showed its dominance on the world racketlon scene as an incredible 66 GB players came away with 18 medals across all of the singles categories. With a gold medal in the U10s all the way to a silver medal in the O70s, GB was out in force. Read on below for more about each medal British players achieved!

Singles Medals

Gold: 7

Silver: 7

Bronze: 4

 

World Champions 2025 (GB)

Men’s World Champion: Leon Griffiths

Under 10 World Champion: Charles Flatman

Girls U21 World Champion: Holly Ranson

Women’s O45 World Champion: Alice Flatman

Women’s O50 World Champion: Jo Shelley

Women’s O55 World Champion: Jo Shelley

Men’s O65 World Champion: Martyn Langston

 

Men’s World Champion: Leon Griffiths
Men’s Runner Up: Luke Griffiths

The final of the 2025 World Singles Championship saw World Number 1 Leon Griffiths take on his younger brother and defending World Champion, Luke Griffiths, in an epic showdown which had everybody on the edge of their seats.

Seeded 1 as defending world champion, Luke arguably had the tougher draw, with joint world number 1 (with Leon) Sylvain Ternon and 6 times world champion Jesper Ratzer in his half. However, up-and-coming Dutchman Koen Hageraats took out world number 1 Sylvain Ternon in the quarter-finals with an impressive +17 win, setting up a semi-final with either Luke or Jesper. Luke vs Jesper was a repeat of last year’s semi-final, which Luke won in a nail-biting epic throughout, winning the tennis 21-18 to get to the final with a +3 win. This year’s match was no different, with many people feeling that Jesper had enough this time to get past the world champion. The scores were extremely similar, however Luke pulled it out of the bag in the tennis, producing some extremely confident shots to win +6. He then defeated Koen +8 to make it through to the final.

On the other side of the draw, Leon demonstrated his excellent level across the sports, only needing to play 6 points of tennis (vs Matthew Davidson, his GB teammate) on his way to the final, beating #7 Nicolas Lenggenhager and #4 Joerg Kanonenberg convincingly. 

The final was a repeat of the 2023 world championship final, which Luke Griffiths won +7 after some incredible squash and tennis to seal his second title. All eyes were on the court this year as Leon set out to end his brother’s streak and win his first world championship. With a convincing lead in the badminton, it looked as though Leon had got enough of a lead that the match would be going in his favour pretty soon. However, Luke did not give up and fought back to take the badminton set 21-19, meaning Leon was +2 going into the squash. The squash was long and hard, and Leon’s consistency and movement saw him take the set 21-15, giving him a +8 point lead going into the tennis. This meant that he needed 14 points in the tennis to take the title. The spectators were wondering – would the fact Leon didn’t have to play (nearly) any tennis throughout the tournament help or hinder him? The answer – his tennis was consistent, hard-hitting, if a little tentative at points, and got him over the line with the score at 14-16. With that +6 win, Leon is the 2025 WORLD SINGLES CHAMPION! Read a more in-depth article about the final HERE.

 

 

Women’s O50 World Champion: Jo Shelley
Women’s O55 World Champion: Jo Shelley

As she lifts the trophy for the O50s title in 2025, Jo Shelley joins just two other players (Luke Griffiths and Christine Seehofer) to win 7 consecutive World Titles. Jo, however, is the first player to win 7 consecutive World Titles in the same category. What an incredible achievement – this woman is a machine! Along with very solid table tennis and badminton, Jo showed her squash dominance throughout, only losing 10 points of squash over 3 matches. If that wasn’t enough, she also won the over 55s title, not needing to play tennis to add yet another World Championship title to her collection.

Women’s O45 World Champion: Alice Flatman
Women’s O40 runner up: Alice Flatman

In the O45s, Alice breezed through her group stage matches into the final, where she came up against Aurélie Bujeau. After a 21-2 table tennis victory, Alice squeaked 3 points in the badminton to be +1 going into the squash. After an epic battle where neither player got more than one or two points ahead throughout, she held her nerve during the last few points to win the squash 22-20. This meant Alice needed 19 in the tennis to win, and she closed it out with points to spare, winning 19-14 to win the title and become O45 world champion! 

Alice also came runner up in the O40s category, with a close loss vs top seed Kirsten Kaptein in a match that could have gone either way! The Flatmans’ medal cabinet must be bursting full now!

Under 10 World Champion: Charlie Flatman

An under 10 category must have felt incredible for Charlie, who is used to playing U12 or U14s and holding his own against players much older than him! 

He dominated this U10 category, not needing to play any tennis and in fact only losing one set (table tennis) throughout the tournament! He also came 9th in the U12 category. Charlie is definitely one to watch for the future!

Mens doubles 2nd and 3rd place

Girls U21 World Champion: Holly Ranson

Holly Ranson defended her U21 World Championship title in style, only needing to play 3 points of tennis in the final vs Mathilde Deleuran to take the trophy. She shows how dangerous she is on the women’s tour, coming 9th in the women’s elite singles after a tough first round match vs Women’s World Champion Myriam Enmer, pushing her all the way, before winning her next two matches convincingly.

 

British Championships Womens Doubles Podium

Men’s O65 World Champion: Martyn Langston

Martyn pulled out an incredible performance in the semi-final of the over 65s, with a +2 win over #1 seed and defending champion Peter Sákovics. He needed 12 points in the tennis, and managed to reach 12 as Peter was on 20, narrowly avoiding the gummi-arm! In the final, Martyn beat #3 seed and last year’s runner up Dany Lessard with a huge win, only needing 1 point in tennis to become over 65 World Champion.

 

British Championship Podium - Mixed Doubles A

Men’s B runner up: Jamie Watkin-Rees

After a 9th place finish in the B grade last year, Jamie showed just how much he has improved, with an excellent string of wins including over #8 seed Steven Wai Kit Cheng to make the B grade final. He faced a very tough opponent in unseeded Botond Francia, who has been making a comeback after some excellent junior results pre-2018. In the final, Botond proved too strong in the middle two sports for Jamie, who no doubt will be taking lots away to improve on for next year.

 

Men's +40s 1st and 2nd place

Boys U18 runner up: Chase Burgess

Chase beat the #3 seed and then #1 seed to make his way to the U18 final, and showed his improving prowess in table tennis, not losing a set on the way. In the final he played #2 seed Leonhard Prager whose table tennis proved too strong for Chase. It was an excellent match and Chase should be very pleased with a silver medal in this tough category.

 

Mens Senior Doubles 1st & 2nd place

Boys U21 runner up: Anant Gupta

In Anant’s final year of U21s, he showed his consistent level with some close matches, needing just 10 points in both the quarter-final and semi-final, to set up a final with #1 seed and boys’ world number 1 Bastian Bohm. The first 3 sports were extremely close however Bastian’s tennis was extremely strong on the day. A silver medal is a great improvement on 5th place in last year’s event.

 

British Championship Senior Mixed Champions

Men’s O40 runner up: Keith Lesser

Senior World Number 1 Keith Lesser was chasing his first senior world championships title and had 3 solid wins to make it to the final, where he faced the unseeded Swede Emil Gunnarsson in a highly anticipated final. After a long and tiring badminton, Keith then had a lot of work to do in the squash, but Emil proved too consistent and he went into the tennis needing just 10 points for the title. No doubt Keith will be back next year to try and win, along with retaining his number 1 rank!

Men’s O70 runner up: Julian Clapp

Julian dominated his group, winning all 3 matches with only one point of tennis needed, and only 12 points of squash lost across them. Great Britain isn’t known as the squash nation for nothing! He faced racketlon legend Graham King in the final, and it was a lengthy battle between the two. Graham took a lead into the tennis and clinched the title getting the necessary 6 tennis points to win.

Boys U16 third place: Daniel Austin

 

Dan breezed through to the semi-final, not needing any tennis, before coming up against last year’s U16 runner up Borys Wasilewski, whose 21-8 badminton put him too far ahead for Dan to come back in the tennis. Dan beat #2 seed Romeo Sam in an excellent performance to claim the bronze medal.

Women’s O60 third place: Sarah Ball

 

Sarah faced some tough opponents in the O60s round robin. With two matches going all the way to the end of the tennis, Sarah just fell short of clinching the wins, taking 3rd place.

Women’s B third place: Ellie Thomas

 

Last year’s C grade world champion Ellie proved she is turning into a very solid player, with great wins on her way to the semi-final. Here, she faced badminton supremo Mathilde Deleuran in a tightly contested match. In the bronze medal match Ellie pulled out some excellent tennis, holding her nerve to win 21-12 and win the match by a single point!

Men’s C third place: Rohan Shergill

 

 In the huge 64 draw men’s C event, #14 seed Rohan had a lot of work to do. His badminton shone as the star sport here, losing 15 points over 4 matches. In the semi-final, he faced Frenchman Yves Bret (who had already beaten two other Brits) and although Rohan’s badminton stayed consistent, with a 21-5 win, it was Yves’ tennis which was too good on the day. Rohan beat fellow Brit and junior Raif Fontanelli in an extremely 2-sport-each back and forth, with a scintillating 21-4 tennis win to take the bronze medal +2.

Photo credits: @gerhardnelphotography

 

UK Racketlon would like to thank all of the organisers for their tireless work to put on such a spectacular tournament once again. The volunteers at the desk, the draw schedulers, the technical work and live streaming, the commentators, the delegates, the bar and kitchen, the venue – all of these people were instrumental in putting together a wonderful tournament, so thank you again. 

And finally – to the players, families, supporters – well done! UK Racketlon shows its strength once again, not only through our depth of players, but through our support, friendliness and presence on the world racketlon scene. 

Make sure to read the World Team Championships review here, and the FIR round-ups here.

Have a closer look at all the results on Tournament Software here.

UK tournaments that are currently open for entry are here. (Stamford Open, Oxfordshire Open, Edinburgh Open)

 

As always – happy racketlon-ing! 

 

Copyright © 2024 Racketlon. All rights reserved |  Web Design by Reforest Hosting

This website is powered entirely by renewable energy

GB Team Players Overview 2025!

GB Team Players Overview 2025!

by | Jul 7, 2025 | News

GB Teams – a closer look 

 James Pope, UK Racketlon’s data man, takes a closer look at the GB players and teams:

 

For the third and (for now) final time, the Racketlon community will arrive in Rotterdam for the Singles and Teams World Championships at the end of this month. The Victoria Club has been a very happy hunting ground for UK players and of course our teams, who have come home with 20 medals in 2023 and 2024, including winning the Challenge Cup (GB4, 2024), U16s (2023), U18s (2024), U21s (2023, 2024), and the O45s (2024). As we go again in 2025, UK Racketlon is now proud to reveal the teams who will be representing us in 2025. The events kick off on Friday 1st August and you will be able to track all the GB teams matches here: https://fir.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=f3c3db78-8d49-4a0d-9cf3-788220b52cd5 

OPEN TEAMS
There are three divisions of Open team events once again: the World Cup, Nations Cup and Challenge Cup, and the FIR will determine the final draw sizes once all squads have been submitted. Once again, GB teams will face familiar rivals from Austria, Sweden and France, along with newer foes from India, Norway and Hong Kong China.

GB1
2024 Result: 2nd (World Cup)

Captains: Duncan Stahl (37 Caps) & Matilda Parslow (17)
Anant Gupta (8), Matt Davidson (19), Leon Griffiths (37), Luke Griffiths (35), Jonny Ritter (4), & Holly Ranson (10)

A blend of youth and experience, and in the case of the Griffiths, both of those things. Duncan, Leon and Luke are the three most capped players in UK Racketlon history with all three there in 2019 when GB1 won the World Cup. With two second-placed finishes in the last two years, and medals in five out of the last six, there is an expectation on this side to challenge deep into the event. While any Racketlon player worth their salt will fear the name Griffiths, the supporting crew bring solid results and many good results on the World Tour in recent times.

GB2
2024 Result: 3rd (Nations Cup)

Captain: Alex Du Noyer (22) 
James Simpson (9), Jamie Watkin-Rees (4), Ross Wilson (22), & Mollie Patterson (3)

The silver fox, Alex Du Noyer returns to the teams after missing 2024, and will lead a side that has nine medals and four titles in the Nations Cup, only missing out in 2014 finishing sixth. James Simpson returns to GB colours after a number of years away and brings a fearsome squash dimension to the team, while between Ross Wilson (2017 gumi-arm win) and Mollie Patterson (sudden team change last year), the side has experienced all the chaos that can be Racketlon teams, which is useful experience for when the matches get tight.

GB3
2024 Result: 3rd (Nations Cup)

Captain: Jack Bishop (26)
Reuben Cox (7), Henry Jones (3), Rohan Shergill (6), Jon Spinks (20), Kirsten Atkinson (3), & Susie Dilloway (6)

GB3 is captained by a member of the UK Racketlon tactical brains trust in Jack Bishop, and he can call on a very handy collection of experienced Racketlon players. Reuben, Henry and Jon formed a core part of the GB4 Challenge Cup winning side in 2024, and they will need this confidence and experience for one of the harder tasks the GB sides face. Entered into the Nations Cup, there is the potential to face a number of Elite players across sides such as Hong Kong China and Switzerland (depending on how the final allocations are made). For Kirsten, she will just be hoping her captain in 2025 doesn’t constantly scream random things at her….

GB4
2024 Result: Champions (Challenge Cup)

Captain: Johnny Bispham (25)
David Bennett (23), Alistair Prades (19), Jack Taylor (debut), & Jo Shelley (24)

It is all change for GB4, a brand new squad tasked with defending the Challenge Cup title won so brilliantly in 2024. However, captained by another of the brains trust in Johnny and calling on the vastly experienced Bennett, Prades and Jo Shelley, Johnny will have all the experience he needs and the fresh eyes of Jack Taylor on his GB debut. Only GB2 in the Nations Cup (2018 & 2019) have defended a title in the Open events, can GB4 join them in 2025?

GB5
2024 Result: 3rd (Challenge Cup)

Captain: Kieran Shelley (4)
Ishan Bairoliya (debut), Ricky Hardcastle (debut), Jordan Marcus (6), Callum Mitchell (debut), & Kayleigh Chapman (debut)

The Victoria Club still reverberates with the sound of a madman screaming “No one’s going to die” and “Your shots” at last year’s GB5 side, and many believe the people of Rotterdam are hoping the captain this year Kieran is a tad quieter. Kieran reunites with Jordan from last year and the pair will help to ease four debutants Ishan, Ricky, Callum and Kayleigh through their first International Racketlon Worlds experience. Kieran’s heroics vs France last year were key to the side getting onto the podium, can GB5 once again make some noise and push for silverware in the Challenge Cup?

JUNIORS

Our pedigree over the years in junior events is unmatched: 22 medals, of which 13 are World Championship golds. Junior Racketlon is rising strongly and there are 28 sides competing across the U12s, U14s, U16s, U18s and U21s categories, featuring newcomers to the sport through to Elite players. Austria, France and Germany are undoubtedly going to be strong across their teams and provide some stiff opposition and fantastic matches to each other and the British sides.

GB U12
2024 Results: Second and fifth

1s – Henry Dobson (3) & Charlie Flatman (5)
2s – Sebastian Dobson (2) & Tylor Li (debut)

It is the only junior title we have yet to win, the U12s (previously known as the U11s), but it was a great achievement to earn silver last year. We have two sides once again for 2025 with Henry D and Charlie combining in the first team, while Sebastian and Tylor (on debut) will form our second team. Its fantastic to see these youngsters, so early in and even beginning their TeamGB journey in the U12s and everyone at UK Racketlon hopes they have an absolute blast.

GB U14
2024 Result: Not entered

1s – Edward Baker (debut) & Henry Flatman (6)
2s – Joseph Fitches (debut) & Millie Rhodes (debut)

For the first time since 2022, we have a side in the U14s (then the U13s) class and it is fantastic to have a brace of sides. Three of the four are also on debut, however Edward is the current U14s British Champion and Henry took a world tour title at the Redbridge Open in the U14s – the first team know how to win. In the second team, Joseph (a winner on the Super Series last year) and Millie will be our first ever second team representatives in this event.

GB U16
2024 Result: Not entered

Daniel Austin (11) & Cameron Firth (debut)

10 medals, seven World titles… it was once said the sun never set on GB U16s Racketlon, so it was unusual to not see a GB side in 2024. However, never fear! We are back in 2025 as Daniel Austin joins debutant Cameron Firth back in this class. There are seven sides competing, two each from France, Austria and Czechia alongside our British boys, who will be keen to add their name to our legend in this event.

GB U21
2024 Results: First and Third

1s – Captain: Anant Gupta (8)
Chase Burgess (9), Cameron Leighton (14), & Holly Ranson (10)
2s – Toto Agombar (3), Raif Fontanelli (7), & Ellie Thomas (3)

It was a tremendous set of results in 2024 for the two GB sides to finish first and third in U21s, a category that is often stacked with Elite players forging their Racketlon careers. The GB sides are no different with Holly Ranson already claiming the scalp of a former World Champion (Myriam Enmer) this season. Anant will lead the firsts, balancing the different needs of the GB1s (who include Holly and himself in their squad) with the aim of glory in the U21s, calling on the experienced duo of Chase and Cameron. For the 2s, they can especially call on their danger woman Ellie Thomas who claimed Women’s C gold last time in Rotterdam.

SENIORS

If our juniors have form, then our seniors have history (and not just with respect to remembering the 20th Century). 24 medals, of which one third are World titles, and in only two out of last thirteen World Championships have we not walked away with at least one senior medal. One stat to consider in 2025, the O40s and O65s are looking for their first titles in these events, two of the three events we have not yet won in World Teams Racketlon.

GB O40s 1
2024 Result: 2nd

Captain: Keith Lesser (30)
Peter Browning (15), Dave Edgar (7), Ray Jordan (26), Jeremy Krzystyniak (10), & Alice Flatman (9)

It is a stacked side for the GB O40s first team, and captain (and in case he hasn’t told you) senior world number 1 Keith Lesser will be keen to add the team title to his Racketlon title collection. He is joined by old friend Ray Jordan – the pair were responsible for Racketlon in the UK becoming what it is through their hard work in the late noughties and early 2010s. They are joined by team stalwarts Browning, Edgar and Flatman while Jeremy Krzystyniak manages the unusual distinction of gaining his first GB O40s cap years after his first GB O45s cap! Can the team go one step further than last year in Rotterdam 2025?

GB O40s 2
2024 Result: 4th

Captains: James Pope (14) & Sarah Ball (3)
Tim Fitches (debut), Andy Heath (debut), Rob Rhodes (debut), & Leigh Ware (4)

Sarah and Leigh, members of the 2024 O40s 2s are joined by three debutants in the shape of Tim, Andy and Rob (with Tim and Rob also playing as proud parents, as their kids make their debuts together in the U14s 2s!). Co-captain James completes the squad, moving up to his first age group squad. With 18 years Racketlon behind him, not to mention responsibility for FIR Rankings and all the UK Racketlon stats, James talks (well shouts) a good game, can he deliver on the court now he has eventually reached the Vets? (Editors note: We already heard Ray Jordan shouting “No!”)

GB O45s
2024 Result: 1st

Captain: Mark Steeden (16)
Peter Barton (9), Jon Foulds (18), Ed Westmacott (9), & Izzy Bramhall (22)

A true measure of success in sport is naming an unchanged team (or in the case of England cricket it’s a blind belief Zak Crawley will score runs), and the O45s will reunite to try and double up on the brilliant victory in 2024. Mark Steeden will lead the side, who hold in Izzy Bramhall their bionic knee trump card, and a series of opponents who know they have to be out of sight before squash or they will feel a world of pain. Black Sabbath, ELO, Oasis; 2025 is seeing big names get back together for another hurrah, can the O45s join the club?

GB O55s
2024 Result: 5th

Captain: Simon Lau (15)
Simon Brown (debut), Rakesh Gupta (33), Ed Harvey (14), & Andy Stenson (8)

After a run of eight medals (including four world titles) in their first eight championships, the past two years have been a fallow patch for the O55s. However for 2025, captain Simon Lau (who returns from 2024 along with Andy and Rakesh) can call on debutant Simon Brown and Ed Harvey. Having spent a couple of years struggling with knee issues (including several surgeries), Ed returned to claim the O40s title at the Devon Open in March and steps up for his first appearances at O55s level. They face some familiar foes, in particular Hungary who call on one of the true Racketlon greats, the Vets GOAT Peter Sakovics… hopefully the O55s will be back on the podium again this year!

GB O65s 1s
2024 Result: 2nd

Captain: Duncan Marlow (26) 
Julian Clapp (5), & Martyn Langston (14)

Could 2025 be the year? Two third place finishes and last year’s second place – the O65s have been edging closer and closer in what is a supremely competitive division. Denmark and France are the main opposition in this category, but Duncan and Martyn have been there, done it, come back and done it again in Racketlon, while Julian has a brace of singles and a doubles World title at O65; so in 2025 this team will certainly pack a wallop on court.

GB O65s 2s
2024 Result: 5th

Captain: Ray Ryan (7)
Philip Pinto (4)

Racketlon attracts all sorts, but there is a strong vein of friendliness which runs through a sport which by its nature can be quite intense (because every point really does count). Within that vein of friendliness, Ray Ryan sits near the pinnacle as one of the nicest people you will meet, and you will meet him, he pops up all over the place on the UK and World tours. He will be joined by Philip Pinto, ensuring the side has beautiful alliteration between their first and second names, as these two look to upset a few apple carts in the O65s.

 

We are very much looking forward to seeing the strength of Team GB once again as we prepare for this year’s World Championships!

Don’t forget to follow along: https://fir.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=f3c3db78-8d49-4a0d-9cf3-788220b52cd5 

 

Copyright © 2024 Racketlon. All rights reserved |  Web Design by Reforest Hosting

This website is powered entirely by renewable energy