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Friday, 30 July 2010 13:19

Batson defeats returning Macey!

Ed Batson continued his domestic winning streak with victory at the 2nd Welsh Open last weekend held at the David Lloyd club, Cardiff.

In a strong-looking 8 man monrad the tie of the first round was Nick Macey – returning to the sport after a 5 year absence – against number 1 seed Ray Jordan. Nick looked a little out of shape (fatherhood clearly does that to you) but hadn’t lost any of his touch and took victory in a match that was close in all 4 sports, getting the 18 he needed in tennis at 18-13. Keith Lesser took revenge over Kent’s Mark Steeden – an extremely strong squash player – to set up a semi-final with Macey. Pre-tournament favourite Ed Batson swept aside Hayden Jones despite losing the badminton and Jon Foulds defeated impressive newcomer John Bult at 10-14 in the tennis after strong badminton and squash performances.

There were no surprises in the semi-finals as no tennis was played; Ed underlined his quality by beating Jon at squash and before the tennis – his strongest sport. Nick showed no mercy against Keith with a heavy win that included a 21-4 badminton thrashing to set up an intriguing encounter. The final all hinged on the table tennis – victory for Nick would give him a chance of building up a good lead before the tennis but it wasn’t to be. Ed won both table tennis and squash leaving him needing 17 in the tennis which he reached at 17-5. Another very strong performance – we shall see how he gets on at his first English Open in a few weeks time. As for Nick, he is back. The man from Bournemouth is already considering the Finnish and Scottish Opens and has already entered for Vienna. If he regains his fitness we could yet see some fireworks on the tour again!

Sime mothers do have ‘em!

Excuse the pun. Fiona Sime captured her first tour title with victory in the ladies event after a particularly hard fought round robin group of 4 that also included domestic regulars Dominique Ford, Di Baker and Michelle Eaton. The sports teacher from Ashford was on fire with table tennis victories of 21-3 and 21-2, and a squash victory of 21-4 being particularly impressive. Recent attendance at the Champions League event in Vienna representing her beloved Kent has clearly honed her racketlon skills.

Her match against 2nd place Dom was the virtual final and got off to a bad start for Fiona as she surprisingly lost 21-18 at table tennis. She bounced back in the badminton however, taking that 21-15 and after a very strong 21-4 squash win the match was hers. The closest match in the pool was Di v Dom and as it turned out Dom nabbed it by a mere 2 points – a strong 21-6 table tennis victory helping her here.

Unusually there was no over 45s veterans event, but there was an over 55s! In it newcomer and local player Kwesi Hazell (not to be confused with his brother, Kwesi Hazell) took the win with victories over the man in charge Richard Lawrence, chauffeur Geoff Jordan and Charles Eaton.

Other events saw Fiona double up and also take the Mixed Doubles, playing with newcomer Mike Mace. Local David Lloyd members Pete Bridgeman and Kwesi Hazell took the Mens Doubles. Mens B was won by Richard Colman who beat Mark Johnson in the only gummiarm of the day! But the story was surely Natalie Lawrence’s victory over her England captain and mentor Stuart Foster! Victory in the first 3 sports meant she only needed 6 in the tennis – job done at 6-16. Irishman Colm Harte took Mens C, which included a semi-final victory over his brother Niall along the way. Patrick Garlick was the runner-up.

A great tournament, all finished in 1 day – if we could get some more local Welsh players it would be a tournament to savour.

Thanks All,    Ray

Click here for Full Results

Mens A Event - Winner: Ed Batson,   2: Nick Macey,   3: Jon Foulds

Mens B Event - Winner: Richard Colman,   2: Mark Johnson,   3: Natalie Lawrence

Mens C Event - Winner: Colm Harte,   2: Patrick Garlick,   3: Niall Harte

Ladies A Event - Winner: Fiona Sime,   2: Dominique Ford,   3: Dianne Baker

Mens Over 55 Event - Winner: Kwesi Hazell,   2: Richard Lawrence,   3: Geoff Jordan

Mixed Doubles Event - Winners: Fiona Sime & Mike Mace,   2: Dianne Baker & Jon Foulds,   3: Dominique Ford & Richard Lawrence

Mens Doubles Event - Winners: Pete Bridgeman & Kwesi Hazell,   2: Jonathan Healey & Richard Healey,   3: Niall Harte & Colm Harte
 
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 16:54

Categorisation Advice - English Open

To bring more certainty and confidence to entering the right categories in the Mens and Ladies singles at the English Open, I have put together the following advice. A general principal is to go half a category lower than domestic entry. If you finish in the top half of your category on average, stay in that category for the English Open. If you finish in the bottom half, then move down to the category below. Also, bear in mind Mens B is significantly stronger than the Mens B at a domestic tour event. If an event like the South of London Open or the Sussex Open is taken, the Class A events here will only be slightly stronger than the Mens B at the English Open and in fact are broadly equivalent. The Mens Class A is largely dictated by World Ranking. 7/8th's of the draw must be according to world ranking. This means the top world ranked players play in Class A. Players new to racketlon or those without world ranking points will most likely be unable to play the English Open Class A event, but should be assured the Mens B event will be a very good standard, containing many regular Class A domestic tour players. There is a wildcard rule for 1/8th of the Mens A draw. The leading candidates for the wildcards for the Class A at the English Open are currently Edward Batson (Welsh Open & South of London winner) and Stuart Hobden (Hampshire Open & Hertfordshire Open winner). Even Surrey Open winner Chris McKee will probably have to play Class B, although has a chance of a wildcard if the Class A gets an entry of 24 players.

Mens A and Mens B will both be 2 day singles events. This means players are required to play on Saturday (1pm start) and Sunday (9am start). Mens C & D will be one day events (Sunday only). Ladies A will be a 2 day singles event, Ladies B is a one day event (Sunday only). Ladies B is a more social level, for non experienced and improving racketloners or players new to the sport. Veterans events are not banded and are also 2 day events. It is possible to enter multiple categories and this will be permitted on a case by case basis. Junior events are all on Sunday and doubles is on Friday night with a Sunday final.

I hope that is clear and that if you haven't entered already, you now know which category to enter…!

Do let me know if you have any further questions. Payment advice is also listed below.

Best Wishes

Keith Lesser

English Racketlon

Entry Steps

Register on www.resultreporter.com on the "players corner" (if you are already registered on the players corner miss this). This is your username and password for all ResultReporter events. Then on www.resultreporter.com pay the International Racketlon License on this via paypal. This covers international competition in 2010 and costs 10 Euros. This is a one off charge for all world ranking events in 2010. Or if you don't have paypal add £9 onto your entry fees and action through bank transfer or cheque as per below. If you already have a 2010 License skip this. On www.resultreporter.com enter the English Open in the desired categories.

Pay for your entry and guarantee your place in the draw. Choose from the below options.

Via the tournament entry page on

If that fails for any reason, or you don't have paypal, you can either send cheques payable to 'English Racketlon' & send it to

English Racketlon
170 Coleridge Way
Borehamwood
Herts
WD6 2AT

or complete a bank transfer to Account: 10607673, Sort Code: 20-52-74 (English Racketlon).

A further option is to 4) "send money" on paypal to

Email keith.lesser @ englishracketlon.org to confirm receipt.

 

 

 

 
 
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 08:41

Entry deadline looms for Sussex Open  (Sun 8th Aug) this weekend

Based on current entries we will definitely be running Men’s classes A,B and C. All categories can accept more entrants at this stage.  At present with only one lady entry we are very keen to receive more entries (alternatively we may merge ladies with class C).

We only have space for about another dozen entries to reach capacity so please enter soon to guarantee your place.  Plan is for players arrival at 11.30am for a midday start and a finish time of 6pm (with contingency for 7pm).

Look forward to seeing you there.

Stuart Hobden

Tournament Organiser
 
Thursday, 22 July 2010 16:34

Welsh Open 2010 - Draft Draw Available

All categories are now full and the draw has been made, and may be viewed/downloaded at:

Welsh Open 2010 Draft Draw

It is a Draft as there are already changes, but for most it will be correct on the day. Read on for the Schedules:

Read more...
 
Monday, 19 July 2010 17:17

Welsh Open 2010 Event Status - Mon 19-Jul-2010

The structure of morning doubles (2 guaranteed matches) and afternoon singles (3 guaranteed matches) still stands.

The Mens A elite event is full and we will be holding to the entry closing date of Friday 16th. A draw of 8 will be made shortly.

With only one entry in each to date, the Mens D event will be merged with the Mens C and the Ladies B event will be merged with the Ladies A. Those affected will be contacted.

The remaining singles events (Mens B & C, Ladies A, Vets O45/O55) are still able to accommodate more entries, and the entry mechanisms will be left open to encourage late entries, but will be closed when entry levels reach 8 entries for the Mens and Ladies, or 4 entries for the Vets events.

 The doubles events are almost full, so will remain open to try and attract extra entries to bring them up to the target limit of 4 entries, below which world ranking points will not be allocated by the FIR.

 Value Added Extra - World Team Championships Warmup Event

The relatively low level of doubles entries means that, while 2 morning rounds can start and complete at 90 minute intervals, there will be spare court capacity. With the upcoming World Team Championships in Vienna, we are taking the opportunity to offer any existing or potential Welsh and English team players the opportunity for a structured preparatory practice. 4 players will be accommodated from each country, male or female, and will play a Monrad-4 format event following on from the doubles matches in each round, providing 2 morning matches, prior to playing their existing afternoon singles event.

Conditions

Entry application will be by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Entry applications are invited from existing A or B singles entrants who are not involved in the doubles events.

Existing selected national team members will be given priority.

Entries will be accepted in order of receipt, up to a maximum of 4 per country.

The 4 successful players from each country will be notified by email when full, or on Friday 23rd July at latest.

The players will be expected to be present for registration with the rest of the doubles players at 08:45.

A charge of £10 per player will be collected on registration to cover consumables.

The morning session will finish promptly at 12:00 to permit the singles events to commence promptly.

Any player due on court for an afternoon singles match will be expected to terminate their warmup event play if still on court.

Naturally, this warmup event will attract no world ranking or UK ranking points.
 
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