2024/25 Racketball Championship - the results

Hi all,

The 2024/25 Racketball Championship finale played out on Sunday 7th July.
In front of an eager crowd, the evening kicked off with the Plate Final: David Fairclough v Tim Fox. The games was tight with David taking it 15-13, the next even tighter with David again taking the spoils 17-15. David managed to prevent a comeback from Tim, taking the match 3-0.
Great result for David, who had a hip replacement less than a year ago!

Next up, the main event, the main finale Rob Irish, last years runner up, against the new kid on the block, Mark Hutcheson.
Both players entered the court to their chosen Walk-on music. One was Barbie girl, the other the theme tune to Rocky (I'll let you decide who chose what).
The match started with both players trying to out fox the other, playing a lot of boasts at the front of court attempting to wrong foot each other. Mark nudged the first. Rob changed tactic for the second, longer rallies pushing the ball to the two back corners and twisting Mark. The tactic change worked. Rob levelled the match 1-1, but was tiring.
Sensing this, Mark kept the rallies longer in the third, keeping in front of Rob and forcing errors. Mark won the third and Rob looked spent. In the fourth Mark maintained the pressure, Rob tried to pull off some tricky shots, but couldn't break Mark.
Mark wins 3-1 and is the new Champion.

The event ended with the presentation from Wayne Barnard who donated the Trophies that will be used now and future tournaments.
The Plate trophy will be dedicated to the memory of Bob Shepherd, a former club member who sadly passed this year. His enthusiasm and love of Racketball at the club was infectious and he always played with a smile on his face. He will be missed.

I would like to thank all involved in making this a great tournament, the players, Wayne for his generosity, the club and congratulations to the winners.

see you on court soon.

Cheers