UK Racketlon. World Championships

World Team Championships 2025 – Review

by Matilda Parslow | 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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

by Matilda Parslow | 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!

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.

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.

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!

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