There was a very respectable turnout for the Racquets Graded Open in Thame held on November 29th and 30th.
Persuaded by a purse of £1000 to the Winner and £500 to the Runner Up, top names from within the County and beyond filled the draw of 16 players in the headline A Grade competition.
Home grown leading lights Ben Hedger (Thame) and Joe Brooke (Abingdon) both perished at the 1/4 Final stage, Ben going down 6-11 9-11 to recent Brackley league debutant and Number 3 seed, Kriss Kasunda whilst Joe fell agonisingly short losing out 8-11 in a final set decider to the Number 2 seed Simon Herbert.
The Final pitched World Top 60 player, Herbert against the more experienced Charlie Lee. Charlie has been as high as 46 in the PSA world rankings and was a member of the England side that won the 2023 European Team Championships. His greater court craft proved a bit too much for his worthy opponent on this occasion and he took home the booty with an 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 success.
In the A Grade Plate (for those who lost their first round matches), Henley stalwart Harry Palfreyman succumbed in the final to another Harry, Harry Wyld in straight sets.
The B Grade section was won by youngster Manasse Pap who saw off another local player, Andy Peers.
There was a great deal more joy though for Oxfordshire in the C Grade tournament where Nuffield’s Michael Beck was pitched up against Josh Cowan D’Arcy of Gladiators in the Final. Perhaps the much longer time spent on court finally caught up with Josh although Michael fully justified his Number One seeding in prevailing 3 sets to love.
It was the turn of Abingdon to provide the victor at the D Grade level where the much fancied Lorna Sokolowski surrendered a 2 set lead over Ahsan Khan before taking the deciding fifth 11-8.
Michella Pita overcame the top seed Murtaza Alam Khan to take the honours in the D/E Grader whilst in a novel but very welcome Ladies Beginners competition, Gemma Stuart took top spot by defeating the delightfully named but difficult to pronounce (quickly!) Sue Shoobridge.
