Sunday, 30 November 2008 00:00
UK RACKETLON NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER 2008

Double BBC Whammy!

November saw the broadcast, on BBC Breakfast & other BBC services, of Mike Bushell's excellent Racketlon feature, "All four one & one four all", filmed in August at the English Racketlon Open & Doubles World Championships. The item featured interviews with FIR President Marcel Weigl & our very own Ray Jordan, as well as an explaintion of the sport. November also saw a major radio coup, with a follow-up 5 minute feature on the Chris Evans drivetime show on Radio 2. Chris can boast 5 million viewers & Chris & sports reporter Johnny Saunders quizzed Ray Jordan about the sport. If you have one of the following accounts, please consider clicking the link & 'voting' for the BBC Racketlon video: Mixx Digg Reddit StumbleUpon      
 
 
The Hampshire Racketlon Open
This event came hot on the heels of the two BBC features & as might be expected, with the wider publicity, was well oversubscribed, with a 25 strong waiting list. The report, for the likely last British tour event of 2008, & a full results spreadsheet, can be found on the homepage of the English Racketlon Association (ERA).
 
 
Are you thirsty for more?
Next up, is the tour opener for 2009, the Carlton & Dunlop English Championships on Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th January 2009. The event is scheduled to start at 0930hrs on Saturday & finish at 1700hrs on Sunday. All classes will complete in one day, so you can come on either day or both, for example if you want to compete in singles one day & doubles on the other day. Anticipated classes are: 
 
Saturday - Mens A, Mens B, Ladies A, Ladies B, Mens over 55's, Mens B Doubles, Open Under 16's.
Sunday - Mens C, Mens D, Mens Over 45's, Mens Under 21's, Open Under 13's, Mens A Doubles, Mixed Doubles.
 
There is a guarantee of three matches & typically games of 21-up, dependant on entry levels. The event takes place at Gidea Park, Romford. The registration process will be notified shortly. Those of you that are members of the UK RAKETLON PORTAL group on facebook (170+ & growing!) already have an opportunity to register your interest in attending by accepting the 'event' invite online. 
 
 
2008 World Championships Results
This year, the end of season World Championships were held in Fuerth, Germany & have just finished. In the team event, Sweden were crowned World Champions for the seventh straight time, a cleansweap since it's inception. In both elite events, Finnish players took the titles, the first, but maybe not the last, repeat of the Finnish cleansweep at the inaugural 2001 World Championships. Mikko Kärkkäinen (FIN) beat Magnus Eliasson (SWE) +24 (21-6,21-16,21-17) & Mikaela Björnström (FIN) defeated Martina Kakosová (CZE) +16 (21-15,21-12,21-19,5-6). In the men's Junior U21 Final, Anti Tyyskä (FIN) beat Johannes Schubert (AUT) +14 (21-14,21-19,22-20,11-8). In the veterans men's over 45 final, Peter Bittár (SWE) beat Richard Whitehouse (ENG) & in the men's over 55 event, the winner was Olle Benéus (SWE), defeating favourite Richard Whitehouse (ENG) in the semifinal. The squash set was particularly hard thought, ending 29-27 in the Swedes favour...
 
The full results can be found on the Result Reporter website & a full report will appear on the official Racketlon websites shortly.
 
 
English Racketlon Association AGM (2008)
The newly formed ERA held it's inaugural AGM on the 9th November 2008, after the Hampshire event. The majority of the discussions centred around growing the sport, geographically, structurally & demographically. As a consequence, key workstreams are being produced & will, in time, be found on the ERA website. Anyone wishing to get involved in any way should contact via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
2009 Event Dates Already Confirmed
A number of tournament dates are already confirmed, in addition to the English Championships. These are:
 
7th/8th February 2009 - Hertfordshire Open - Letchworth
18th April 2009 - CSSC National Racketlon - Redbridge - closed to CSSC members
11th July 2009 - Sussex Open - Horsham
21st/23rd August 2009 - English Open - Redbridge (World Tour)
12/13th September - UK Team Championships - Letchworth
25th/27th September - Scottish Open - Edinburgh (World Tour)
 
Anyone interested in establishing a local Racketlon tournament should again contact via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . A full list of current World Tour events can be found on the pages of the International Racketlon Federation (FIR) website. The ERA will look to confirm the British Open world challenger event shortly & there may be another in the pipeline...    
 
Newcastle University Charity Racketlon
Saturday 15th November saw sixty bleary eyed students forgoing their usual sleep-ins to take part in Newcastle University’s first charity Racketlon event. Members of the University’s racket clubs took each other on at their respective sports, with a morning of mini tennis & table tennis followed by an afternoon of badminton & squash. There were some interesting techniques on show, with many trying their hand at a sport for the first time. This made for an amusing and entertaining day & produced some surprise results & closely fought finals.
 
The day culminated in indian food at the union, a raffle, supported by local businesses & a night of festivities. £850 was raised in total, from a £10 entrant fee, sponsors Price Waterhouse Cooper, Steve Porter of Millport Developments & donations. The chosen charities were ‘Children in Need’ and a local sports charity, the Glen McCrory Foundation. It is hoped that the enthusiasm & interest may lead to a Newcastle tour event for 2009.
 
 
Winter Practice Sessions
 
Anyone wishing to find practice partners or venues around the country, please email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  & we will try to put you in touch with local players/venues. A number of London clubs are looking to establish regular sessions. We are very keen to establish regional centres, based around clubs or counties, culminating in an inaugural UK team tournament in 2009. 
Finally, if you have any ideas, suggestions, observations, or just want to get involved, please take the time to provide your feedback by replying to this email or by opening up a discussion, using the links below:
 
Official Website of the International Racketlon Federation:
http://www.racketlon.net

Internet Home of International Racketlon since 2001:
http://www.racketlon.com

Official Homepage of the British Racketlon Federation:
http://www.racketlon.co.uk

Official Homepage of the English Racketlon Association:
http://www.englishracketlon.org

Racketlon Video's:
http://video.aol.com/video-search/query/racketlon

Yahoo Sports Group:
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/UK_RACKETLON/

Racketlon Chat:
http://groups.google.com/group/racketlon/topics

UK Racketlon Portal (Facebook):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9495401163

Racketlon Fan Page (visible to non-members):
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Racketlon/15258320718

British Rankings:
http://www.englishracketlon.org/?pg=Rankings

World Rankings:
http://www.racketlon.com/rankings.htm
 
Interactive World Rankings: