Devon & Exeter
Squash & Racketball Club
is pleased to announce the inaugural
West of England Racketball Team Challenge
(Click)
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Devon & Exeter Secure
National Racketball Title
(Click) |
Introducing
England Squash & Racketball
12th February 2009
Ben
Taylor writes:
We’re delighted to announce that England Squash, the governing body
of squash and racketball in England, has officially become England
Squash & Racketball.
Squash continues to be one of the most popular sports in England
with nearly half a million people playing regularly, and as many of
you will know, racketball is a complementary sport with a similar
scoring and rules system.
Our vision is to increase the popularity and profile of both sports,
continue to raise levels of success at international level and to
run the sports according to the highest standards of governance,
management and ethics. In order to achieve this we felt that the
organisation needed a new identity, one that truly represented our
aspirations to be modern, vibrant, and professional.
If you’re joining us this week at the National Championships in
Manchester, you’ll notice our new logo being unveiled for the first
time. The rose of England, traditionally associated with English
sport, has been given a contemporary feel, while incorporating
attributes of squash and racketball such as movement, energy and
dynamism.
The debut of the logo will be followed in the coming months by a
re-vamped, user-friendly website. Both the logo and website have
been designed to convey the sports of squash and racketball as
vibrant, dynamic, modern and professional, and to persuade more
people to get on court to try our great sports.
Over the coming months and years we will be working closely with
clubs, leisure centres, universities and workplaces to help
introduce thousands of new players, coaches, and volunteers to the
sports, and key to this is creating a vibrant club scene. Squash
will continue to be at the heart of our activity but we feel
strongly that racketball will help bring new people to squash
courts. Squash facilities that have embraced both sports are going
from strength to strength, with busy courts and increased membership
numbers. Our aim is to help all clubs achieve this success.
We’re looking forward to working together with you, and all of our
partners, to help make both sports as successful as they can be for
many years to come.
If you have any comments, thoughts or suggestions, please feel free
to get in touch.
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RACKETBALL MOURNS
LOYAL
SERVANT IAN WRIGHT (1933-2009)
It is with utter shock, deep regret and the most profound sorrow
that I convey the news of the tragic death of our county secretary,
Ian Wright. It is believed that Ian suffered a heart attack while
playing racketball at his beloved Bexley club last night (Sunday
January 4th).
Ian had been secretary of the Kent Squash and Racketball Association
for more than 40 years, and just a few short months ago a special
presentation evening was held in his honour to celebrate that
particular milestone of momentous service to the sport he loved and
helped to nurture in this county. Friends from throughout the world
of squash gathered to salute his enormous contribution to the game.
As well as his roles as county secretary and treasurer of the Kent
Squash and Racketball Association, Ian was also a long-serving
member of the England Squash Council and had been the national
governing body's official archivist for many years. He was also
heavily involved with Kent tennis and was the driving force behind
many of the improvements at the Bexley Tennis and Squash Club in
recent years, including the building of a magnificent new pavilion
which replaced the charming wooden structure which served the club
faithfully for so long, just like Ian.
At the age of 75, Ian was still playing competitive racketball,
having been National Over-70s champion two years ago.
Over the past few days I have been liaising with Ian via email about
the forthcoming Kent County Closed. In his last email, sent on
Saturday, Ian wrote: "I will see you at the Kent SRA meeting on
Monday 19th January when I hope you can give me the County results
in full with scores, please, for the Kent handbook. If my tennis
commitments are cancelled I will go to Mote on the Sunday."
That was typical of Ian, juggling his commitments to both squash and
tennis. Sadly, I won't be able to buy him a coffee at The Mote and
have a chat about the many projects we are developing to enhance
Kent squash.
One thing is for sure: It will take a team of volunteers to take
over the multi-faceted roles he performed so smoothly and so
professionally.
He will be sadly missed by his many friends in sport and our deepest
sympathy goes to his widow Judy and the rest of the family.
ALAN THATCHER
Chairman, Kent SRA
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K2 SUPER 16’S,
CRAWLEY
A new Racketball event, the
K2 Racketball
Super 16's, has been announced by England Squash, in association
with
PeterNicolSquash.com, writes Justyn
Price. This exciting new event is being organised by England Squash
Area Manager Justyn Price, as part of a programme to showcase K2 as
a potential Olympic Training Venue for Nations from around the world
in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In addition to the Men's and Women's Open, there will be a mixed
doubles competition and an Under 13 Racketball competition. It is
hoped that the open events will command strong draws, exciting and
enthusing the spectators from the local community about Racketball
by incorporating a number of players who have recently taken part in
the National Racketball Championships.
Entry for the event is £10 per player, per event, and as the name
suggests, each competition will have a draw of 16, with a plate
event, ensuring all players have at least two matches.
This event is part of a much bigger programme of Squash and
Racketball Development at this fantastic venue, with 5 glass backed
courts, all with excellent spectator viewing. In association with
the local authority a Squash and Racketball development programme is
being set up, with the focus on developing a vibrant junior section
through links with the local School Sport Partnership, and a
thriving social and competitive adult section for both Squash and
Racketball.
There will also be a Racketball Fun day and Coaching Clinics running
on Friday 29 August for local residents to come and try Racketball
for themselves under the guidance of England Squash Licensed
Coaches.
Warwickshire has announced that their first
County Closed Championships is to sponsored by Proact Financial
Services. Warwickshire is a hotbed of racketball and tournament
organiser Rob Shay believes that the event will provide a focus for
the County. It will take place at Edgbaston Priory – home to at
least 150 players, and forms can be obtained from Rob by e-mailing
rob@robshay.co.uk
St Ivo Racquets Club will be holding their inaugural Racketball Open
Challenge on Sunday 14th September 2008 at St Ivo Outdoor Complex,
writes Mark Williams.
The event will run from 9am - 5pm and players of all abilities are
welcome to enter one of the variety of events on offer. Event
categories include Mens, Ladies, Juniors and Mixed Doubles.
Entry costs £8 per event for seniors and only £5 for juniors. There
are PRIZES for the winners of each category and FREE T-shirts for
all entrants!
Entry for the Mixed Doubles competition is FREE if the players have
entered into the singles event. Event sponsors 'Just Sunglasses',
have kindly supplied 'His and Hers' designer sunglasses for the
winners of the Mixed Doubles event!
For further information on the event please
contact Byron Williams on 07824 839796.
If you would like to enter this new and exciting Racketball event
please download the entry form by clicking
'here' and e-mail it to Byron Williams at
xbyron81@hotmail.com
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Thame win National
Club Championships
Racquets Fitness Centre of Thame won the 2008 National
Racketball Championships at Nottingham in May with a convincing 4-1
victory over Chapel Allerton.
Wins at 4 and 5 gave Thame a solid platform, and while Alistair
Walker pulled back a rubber at 3, beating Steve Bateman 3-0,
Thame’s Tom Phipps pulled off an upset 3-0 victory over
Neil Guirey and Simon Martin wrapped up the match with
the closest match, 3-2 against Guirey’s National Doubles Champion
partner Mike Dickens, 3-2.
In the semi finals, Thame had pulled off an upset 3-2 win over
favourites Lexden, who boasted such names as Daryl Selby,
Paul Allen and Del Harris in their line-up, while
Chapel Allerton beat Edgbaston Priory by a similar margin
in their semi final.
Tom Phipps bt Neil Guirey 3-0
Simon Martin bt Mike Dickens 3-2
Steve Bateman lost to Alistair Walker 0-3
Andy McDonald bt Rob Mannall 3-0
Tom Power bt Ian Cawthorne 3-0
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NATIONAL RACKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
2008 REPORT |
Bob Johnson (Managing Director Solosport) and
Tournament Director Rob Shay confirm Ektelon’s continued sponsorship
of the National Championships.
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NATIONAL RACKETBALL
CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008
Defending Champions Darryl Selby and Laura Hill both
retained their titles in the National Racketball Championships at
the Edgbaston Priory Club yesterday.
Selby, currently 34 in the World Squash rankings, won a third
successive title beating fellow Essex player Paul Allen 3-0 in the
final, while Derbyshire’s Hill also chalked up a third successive
title, beating local pro, England star Vicky Hynes in a tight 3-0
final.
Sponsored by Ektelon and Just Rackets, the tournament
drew and entry of 200 players from all corners of the British Isles
in 15 competitions, from the Open events through to the Women’s Over
55 and Men’s Over 70.
Selby was stretched to four games in the second round by
Warwickshire’s James Bowden, and then beat the promising Kent
youngster Ted Jeal 3-0 in a gruelling quarter-final. Meanwhile,
fourth seed Neil Guirey of Chapel Allerton pipped Nick Hynes 15-13
in the fifth in the second quarter-final, but could not sustain
theeffort against Selby in the semi-final, losing in straight games.
In the other half of the draw, last year’s finalist Tim Vail of
Sussex eased in to the semi finals with straight sets wins over Andy
Warmington (Warks) and Tom Phipps (Bucks)s, while Paul Allen,
another England ranked squash player, proved too strong for Mike
Dickens (Yorks) in the second round and
the flamboyant Simon Martin (Bucks) in the semis.
Vail had to withdraw from his semi final with Allen for family
health reasons, but although fresher, Allen had no answer to Selby’s
retrieving, and all-round pressure play in the final, and was unable
to take a game.
Laura Hill had a tougher path to the final this year with a much
stronger draw than in previous years. She beat Hasmpshire’s Bettina
Harvey in the quarter finals and was stretched by another rising
England squash star, Lauren Selby in the semis. Selby, meanwhile,
was given a stern test by Warwickshire’s Lisa Key, before winning in
straight games.
In the other half Hynes, who has recently claimed some notable
scalps on the women’s professional squash circuit, disposed of
Devon’s Karen Bealey and Derbyshire’s Lisa McKenna in straight sets
on her way to the finals.
Hill’s all-round athleticism proved too strong for Hynes’ guile in
the final however, and she triumphed
3-0, despite being pushed to 15-13 in the third set.
In the Master’s section, Jim Lord won both the Men’s Over 35 and
Over 40 events, beating brother David Lord in the former and
Cleaver’s Andy Pallett in the latter.
Competing in this event for the first time, Paul Haigh won the
Over-45’s against fellow Yorkshireman Ian Cawthorne, Edgbaston
Priory players dominated three of the other events, with wins for
Rob Shay (Over 55), John Shingler (Over 65) and John Hart (Over 70).
Mike Livock (Norfolk) retained his Over 50 title, and John Cockill (Yorks)
took the Over 60’s.
In the Women’s Masters, former England player
Claire Walker (Yorks) retained the over 35 crown, and there were
wins fr Bev Vatcher (Dorset, over 40), Lesley Strugess (Derbys, over
45, Jenny Matthews (Surrey, over 50) and the evergreen Bett Dryhurst
(Worcs, over 55)
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