Selby Crowned National Racketball Champion
18th Mayby Faye Kowalewsky
The listing was posted by England Squash - East Area
The National Racketball Championships were held at Edgbaston Priory Club on 8th – 10th May and it was the Selby’s of Essex flying the flag for the Eastern Region.
The Men’s Open attracted 42 entries including several leading squash players but it was Daryl Selby who was favourite to retain his National title. Only a week previous to the event, Selby had made his England Debut at the European Team Squash Championships in Malmo, Sweden.
The Essex star had a smooth passage through to the semi-finals where he dropped the first game, to Yorkshire’s Neil Guirey, before easing through 3-1. Selby then faced Kent teenager Ted Jeal in the final. The hard-hitting Jeal gave Selby a tough contest but as Selby started to pull ahead there was no way back for Jeal. Selby justified his claim that he was unbeatable in Britain winning the final of the National Racketball Championships for a fifth time
beating Jeal 3-1.
In the Women’s Open, Derbyshire’s Laura Hill was also fighting to defend her title. She came up against Daryl’s sister Lauren Selby in the final. Hill took the first game comfortably but Selby started to find her feet midway through the second narrowly losing it 11-9. It looked like Hill was going to have a fight on her hands as Selby took the third game, but in the fourth, Hill stamped her authority from the start, and did not relax her grip winning 3-1. Hill almost equally as dominant as Daryl Selby in the women’s event, claiming her fourth successive title.
The Championships attracted a record 250 players from across the country, in 16 events. For full results listings click 'here'.