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National Racketball Champs 2014
20-22 June, Edgbaston Priory, Birmingham |
Sat 21st:
Finals Day in Birmingham
 Tim
Vail equalled the National Racketball Championship
record of six titles at the weekend after an astonishing
112-minute final in which he came back from 2/0 down against
Mark Fuller to win 3/2 at Edgbaston Priory Club.
Fuller will be having nightmares over the third game for a
long time after taking an 8-3 lead, only for Vail to slowly
claw it back to earn a game-ball at 10-8. Fuller won the
next two points to force a tiebreak, but Vail’s patience
paid off and he took that game 12-10 to stay in the match.
From then on Vail’s experience was key as the rallies
increased in length and he ground Fuller down to etch his
name on the Ian Wright Memorial Trophy for the sixth time.
 The
women’s trophy was won by Natalie Lawrence for the
first time after she upset defending champ Claire Walker 3/1
in the final.
Lawrence took a close first game 12-10, only for Walker to
level matters by winning the second 11-6. However, Lawrence
then rallied well to regain control and claimed the next two
games 11-7, 11-6 and the title.
The men’s over-35 final saw James Bowden trounce last
year’s winner, Andy Corben, 3/0, while Zoe Melis also
stopped Sarah Taylor from retaining her title in the women’s
competition in that age group.
Ian Cox claimed the men’s O40 trophy by surprising
top seed Mike Harris in the semi-finals and then beating
David Lord in a final which swung both ways before Cox won
the fifth 11-6.
Claire Walker retained her women’s O40 title with a
victory over Sam Mueller and Andrew Murray hung on to
the men’s O45 trophy by defeating Pete Goodings 3/1 in the
final.
Rachel Woolford landed the women’s O45 trophy by
edging past Amanda Harding 3/2 in the final and both 050
categories went the distance as well, Neil Baldwin
lifted the men’s crown by beating Stephen Wall 12/10 in the
fifth and Paula Arrowsmith retaining the women’s by
squeezing past Carolyn Lindsay.
Mike Phillips is the men’s O55 champion following a
convincing 3/0 win over Nigel Millington in the final and
Lesley Sturgess made up for last year’s final
disappointment with a perfect run of 3/0 victories to take
the women’s title.
Club coach Rob Shay won the O60 championship by
defeating surprise finalist Roger Monteil 3/1 and so ending
the unseeded Monteil’s tremendous run.
Linda Smith shocked favourite Bett Dryhurst
3/2 in the women’s O60 final, but Dryhurst gained some
consolation with the O65 title – her 28th national
racketball title since she started playing in these
championships many years ago.
David Scurlock retained his O65 title with a
comprehensive 3/0 victory over Graham Sayer and Bev Pegg
defeated defending O70 champion Rod Embley 3/2 after an
amazing 56-minute final.
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The Finals
Final Draws & Results
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Sat 21st:
Hamilton puts out Parke
The Big news in the Racketball
Champs today was that Dominic Hamilton knocked out
top seed and favourite Simon Parke after coming from
2-0 down to clinch it 11-7 after 69 minutes.
Hamilton did have the fresher legs, Parke was also 2-0 up
against Jason Pike in his first match but ended up staying
on court a mammoth 77 minutes before he clinched it 11-8 in
the 5th.
Hamilton will take on Mark Fuller in the semi finals
who has cruised through so far with two 3-0 victories. In
the bottom half Tim Vail is still on for a record
equalling 6th title as he also has made his way through with
two comfortable victories, he will face Ted Jeal who
got through a tricky match with club coach Mike Edwards
before defeating Mike Tolman in 3 games.
 Claire
Walker is still on course to retain both her Women's and
' O40 finals, so far she has been untested but that will
come tomorrow where she has a possible 4 games to get
through to win both categories. Sarah Taylor is
through to the semis of the Women's in the bottom half of
the draw but will have to get past Natalie Lawrence
to get a final spot.
Andy Corben is through to the final in the MO35 and
will be defending his title against James Bowden, 3
of the top 4 seeds in the MO40 have safely progressed to the
semi finals but Michael Ypes provided the shock in
this draw when he beat number 2 seed James Powley 3-2 after
64 minutes.
The MO45 has a couple of upsets, 5/8 seeds Ian Fudge
and Mark Francis both defeated 3/4 seeds 3-1 to make
it into the semis where they will take on top seeds Pete
Goodings and defending champ Andrew Murray.
 All
top 4 seeds bar the number 1 made it through the semis in
the MO50’s, Duncan Alexander causing the big shock as
he beat defending champ Paul Haigh 3-0.
Mike Phillips and Nigel Millington will face
each other in the MO50 final whilst in the MO55 draw
Roger Monteil is the surprise package as he came into
the event unseeded and finds himself in the semi finals
after beating the number 2 seed Keith Chambers 3-1 then 5/8
seed Richard Waller 3-0.
Men's O65 has been blown wide open with 3 unexpected semi
finalists - Graham Sayer, Colin Newall and
Peter Watt, however defending champ David Scurlock
is still the man to beat in this category.
Top seed Bev Pegg is still on course to battle the
reigning champ Rod Embley in the MO70 but they first
must get past Chris Isaacs and Gordon Burgis.
 In
the Women's O35 Zoe Melis looks favourite to win
after beating reigning champ Sarah Taylor 3-1, top seeds in
the Women's O40 Sue Smith and Helen Cann are
still on course to contest the final but the biggest upsets
have come in the Women's O55 where unseeded players
Maxine Goodhead and Carolyn Lindsay face each
other in the semi finals after knocking out the 3/4 seed and
2 seeds. Paula Arrowsmith looks favourite to meet one
of them in the final as she is yet to be tested.
Lesley Sturgess looks like she has the Women's O55 in
the bag after two wins today whilst Bett Dryhurst
looks odds on to win double this weekend, she defeated Ali
Wood to win the O65 title today and will be looking to
clinch the O60 title tomorrow.
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Sunday Schedule
Draws & Results
updated Sat22.30
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Preview:
The Dunlop National
Racketball Championships will return to Edgbaston Priory
Club in Birmingham this weekend as they welcome close to 200
competitors across 17 categories all vying for Racketball
Glory.
Simon Parke comes into the event as top seed and
favourite in the Men’s draw as he looks for his first
Racketball title. Hoping to meet him in the final will be 5
times winner Tim Vail who will be looking for a 6th
to equal the record of most titles won in the Mens event.
The 3/4 seeds are likely to give them tough tests though,
Uk-Racketball founder and owner Mark Fuller and 2013
Runner Up Ted Jeal occupying those seeded positions.
Claire Walker returns to defend her title in the
Womens Championship, Walker is also defending her O40 title
as she looks to make it a double double by retaining both
trophies. Sarah Taylor is seeded to meet her in the
final and will be hoping to do a double herself as she is
back to defend her O35 title also.
Andy Corben looks favourite to retain his MO35 title,
whilst Priory’s club coach Mike Harris hopes to go one
better than last year’s runners up medal in the O40’s, he is
top seed and likely to come up against James Powley
in the final. Andrew Murray and Paul Haigh
return to defend their O45 and O50 titles while Mike
Phillips looks to take the O55 title for the first time.
Rob Shay will look to add the O60 title to his
collection following on from last year’s O55 victory and
David Scurlock will be hoping to defend his O65 title he
took last year. Bev Pegg didn’t feature last year but
returns as top seed in the O70’s and is likely to meet the
defending champion Rod Embley in the final.
Sue Smith will be gunning for her first title as she
tops the seeds in the WO45, Paula Arrowsmith is back
to defend her WO50 crown while Lesley Sturgess will
be hoping for better luck this year in the O55 after 2 tough
final defeats in 2013. Bett Dryhurst is on course to
win an amazing 28th Racketball title as she defends her O60
title and is also seeded to win the O65’s.
All main draw matches will take place throughout the weekend
at Edgbaston Priory Club with play starting at 18.00
on Friday 20 June. Semi Finals and Finals will be played on
Sunday 30 June with the Men and Women’s final scheduled to
take place from 15.45. All spectators are welcomed into the
club to watch the event free of charge.
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Sunday Schedule
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