It didn’t take long for some of our more seasoned regulars
to get enticed over the Channel for an international Racketlon tournament. In
fact, it took just two World Tour events. Malmo, Sweden was the destination for
our six competitors as they took part in the IWT Casino Heroes Swedish Open. Will Coley, Jon Spinks, Jonny Wan and James Watkins had
all previously ventured abroad to a combination of Belgium, Malta and the Czech
Republic but for Harry Courtney and Sam Wilson it was an overseas debut.
They say good things come in pairs and to some extent that
is definitely true. Not only were our guys paired up in different singles grades
– (Coley and Watkins in Mens B, Spinks and Wanny in Mens C and Buddle and
Wilson in Mens D) – but they were also all together in the doubles.
Mens A Doubles
In their second match though the Notts duo cranked it up a
gear against a pair consisting of an A and B grader to win 19-21 21-12 21-9 3-3
(+19) and finish an extremely respectable joint 9th.
Mens B Doubles
It was an altogether different affair in the B though, as
our power couples failed to place any wins on the board.
They may have won the title for ‘best dressed pair’ but that
is where their doubles prowess ended. Despite being seeded sixth, Wanny and
Spinks were unable to get a victory. After a bye to the second round a pair of
Germans dished out a +21 victory to them in their first match. Their last was a
closer affair, losing by just 3 to a strong Swedish pair.
Christening themselves the ‘most ridiculous pair’ in Malmo,
Harry and Sam opened the whole tournament as they stepped onto court on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately getting an
early start didn’t mean getting ahead of the competition as they fell to a pair
of Johansson’s by 21. As with Jon and Jonny, the second was a tighter affair,
with Harry and Sam losing by just 9, despite dishing out a badminton
masterclass. Despite not winning a match, the two pairs can claim to have not
lost a badminton tie.@NottsRacketlon @Sam_Wilson92 Apparently it's an FIR regulation the most ridiculous pair go first. We take on the swedes #DareToZlatan— Harry Courtney-Bud (@Harry__Courtney) February 26, 2016
Mens B Singles
It was a tale of what could have been in the Mens B, as Will
lost narrowly in the quarter-finals to the eventual winner, Patrick Lorenz.
Coley only lost by four and pushed Patrick closer than anybody else did. Even
so, the star of Nottingham Racketlon was clearly keen to make a name for
himself on the International stage, eventually finishing 6th after
two victories and two losses, one place better than his seeding of 7th. A
superb tournament for Will!
James was seeded two spots higher than Will in 5th
but exited a stage earlier in a gruelling contest which saw him accurately
describe Racketlon tennis as ‘vile’. The final score was 21-15 12-21 21-15
19-20 to see him lose by just 2 points. He won his second match by 9 before
losing his third by 16 to another pesky Swede. Unfortunately James was forced
to withdraw from his final match due to a totally not self-inflicted
wall-punching incident.— The Original Willo (@Sam_Wilson92) February 28, 2016
Mens C Singles
In the Mens C it was a case of absolute Swedish domination
as no other nation made it to the second round. That includes our two
participants, Wanny and Spinks who both fell in the first round. The perk of
these defeats was that the two met in the first round of the plate in a rematch
of last year’s University B Grade final, which Wanny won.
This time was an even tighter affair. Spinks took the
table-tennis 21-2 before Wanny responded with a 21-8 defeat. In a Trent vs Uni
affair, Wanny then produced a great squash display to take it 21-11 and need
just 18 in tennis. He made it as far as 17 but Spinks made it to 21 first,
forcing a gummi arm. Spinks was forced to serve and after having a number of
chances he finally put it away to continue his 100% gummi arm record.
Unfortunately the toils of the day took its toll on Spinks as he celebrated by
throwing up on his own shoes.
Spinks built on his win over Wanny with a huge victory in
his next round but then lost his penultimate match. This left him battling for
19-20 but unfortunately illness struck again and he was forced to withdraw.
Wanny went one better, winning his next two matches before falling to the
seventh seed to finish 26th.
Mens D Singles
Forget Jesper Ratzer. People travelled to Malmo to see one
match in particular. Sam Wilson vs Harry Courtney in the first round of the
Mens D. The big one. The dream debut tie. Would Harry win again? Could Sam
claim his first victory? No. No he couldn’t. Harry won again.
— Harry Courtney-Bud (@Harry__Courtney) February 26, 2016
Harry actually had a strong debut international
tournament... against British players. After losing to back to back Swedes he
then faced fellow Brit Christohper Bates and won by 21 points, needing just 2
points in tennis to finish in 7th.
In fact, Nottingham had a good record against the Bates
family with Sam winning his second match by 12 against Russell Bates. Sam did
especially well considering he had to recover from a 21-0 bagel defeat in the
table-tennis. In his final match the Swedes continued to prove irritating hosts
as Daniel Soderstrom defeated Sam to finish up in 10th position.
Next up for our Nottingham troops is a trip to Batley for
the 3rd Yorkshire Open. Will Coley, Harry Courtney, Greg
Eden, Matt Lau, Adil Patel, Jon Spinks, Jake Tetley and Jonny Wan are already
signed up to make the trip but with entry closing on Thursday 10th
March you need to get your entry in soon to join them!
For a more personal insight into the tournament in Malmo, give Jon Spinks' blog a read.
For a more personal insight into the tournament in Malmo, give Jon Spinks' blog a read.
