WORCESTERSHIRE RACKETBALL CLOSED 2017

Stourbridge was the venue for the 2017 Worcestershire Racketball closed on Saturday 21st October. Competitors arrived from the length and breadth of the county to do battle in this one day event which guaranteed lots of competitive play. Players represented Boughton Park, Barnt Green, Energie Fitness Redditch, Redditch Rugby, Stourport and Stourbridge as well as clubs from outside the county such as Bridgnorth and Ardencote in this friendly and social day of Racketball. 

Mens Open

With the Ladies section decimated by injury it was down to the Men to lead the way in main event. There were some competitive early round quarter and semi final matches throughout the morning leaving just two standing for the late afternoon finale. This event has been played for since 2009 and has historically never been won by the same player more than once. That was all about to change as both Jason Russell and Matt Pugh were both previous winners. The final was keenly contested but in the end it was the fitter Russell who wore his opponent down to take the crown.

Mens o40

This was another keenly contested event. Jason Russell was hoping to make it two wins on the day and reached the final with ease but his opponent would be the unseeded John Cartwright who had steadily made progress through the early rounds and pulled off a surprise in the semi. The final was tough and well supported but Russell was just too steady and came away with a 3-0 win but Cartwright will be happy with his performance on the day.

Men o50

This was a hotly contested league based tournament with each player having to battle it out 4 times over the day to secure victory. Last year’s Champion Spencer Cooper looked favourite and confident in the early encounters but in the early afternoon game he lost in straight sets to Bob Prew which left Andrew Smith in Pole Position going into their final game. In a seesaw encounter Cooper took it in the final set but Smith managed to secure a single set and that was all that he needed to head the group by a single point and become County Champion.

Men o60

New boy into the category Ian Hughes was too strong for his opponents in this one sided event. Comfortably winning his early round matches against David Allsop and Bernard O’Hara he would have more of a battle on his hands against the inform challenger and former o60 Champ Chris Hawken in the final. Hawken was clearly in form and had made steady progress through the event but despite fighting hard Hughes ran out 3-0.

Ladies o50

This was another keenly contested and sociable league based event that came down to the final game of the afternoon. A new Champion being crowned as Dee Cooper headed on to the scroll of honour beating previous Champion Val Molyneux 3-0.