Thomas retains Racketlon Title in Dramatic Sudden Death Point
Twelve members joined us for our annual Racketlon tournament, where the competitors fight it out in a battle of skill and fitness until there is only one standing. And this year’s competition was an extraordinary pageant of skill, patience, stamina and downright doggedness in Tennis, Squash Racketball and Table Tennis.
Players were divided into three groups of four with each entrant playing all other players in their group up to 11 points in each sport. The seasoned pros took it easy at this stage and some of the new players suddenly found they had no energy when they came to their favoured sports. This tournament is very much a marathon, not a sprint.
As Philip Reynolds, one of the competitors, commented: “After the squash and racketball my legs had gone and I had nothing left for the tennis – my strongest discipline.”
After the initial four rounds we had three clear group winners: Ian Thomas (reigning champ), Matt Towers, Sam Morris and best runner up, Sophie Cable, who has made huge strides in her squach and racketball this year to sit alongside her excellent tennis, and proved that this tournament isn’t just for men!
The semi-finals were drawn, with Sam facing Matt and Ian against Sophie, with the crowd secretly cheering on Sophie. Each competitor again played one “game” to 11 of Tennis, Squash, Racketball and Table Tennis against their semi-final opponent, with Ian and Matt emerging as the finalists. After a short 10-minute break, both went into the final with gritted teeth, determined to take the coveted prize.
The other competitors enjoyed a well-earned drink as the final unfolded. Tennis produced a narrow victory for Ian, but Matt had his revenge in Squash and Racketball to leave Ian needing to win Table Tennis, his strongest of the four sports, by 11-0 to win the tournament.
1-0, 2-0 3-0 4-0 5-0 6-0 – the crowd could not believe it – he’s going to do it! 7-0 8-0, and then disaster for Ian, 8 -1, 9-1 10-1 11-1!
After three and a half hours of battling and sweating on court, the scores were even, and the final went to a sudden death point. After winning the coin toss Ian unsurprisingly decided to play Table Tennis. The crowd fell silent as Ian served, Matt returned, Ian moved him using his devastating spins and eventually Matt missed.
And so, Ian retained his title to become the Racketlon Champion 2022! Congratulations to Ian! And also, to runners up Matt, Sam and Sophie, for such a hard-fought competitive afternoon of fantastic racket sports!
Thanks to all the competitors, especially the new entries,
- Ali Khan
- Andrew Hayward
- Ian Thomas
- Julian Cooper
- Manjit Ubhi
- Matthew Towers
- Paul Armstrong
- Phil Reynolds
- Russell West
- Sam Morris
- Sophie Cable
- Steve Adams
who all made it such a great afternoon and to Lottie for producing the scoresheets which kept everything in order!
Will Ian retain the title again in 2023 or can anyone stop him!?
