Rackets | News


News Menu Draws and Fixtures All the latest from the world of Rackets. News Archive Look through our past news items, going back a full four years: 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 Ask Your Question If you've a specific question - ask the Rackets.co.uk Team. ............................................ Specialist Links Sponsorship We provide promotion & sponsorship opportunities to suitable companies. Site Terms Our complete terms of use.	Guy Smith-Bingham, Harry Foster, Simon Chambers [KBC Peel Hunt] If one of the hallmarks of a true Champion is said to be the ability to win matches when you are not playing at your best then Harry Foster's victory, over Guy Smith-Bingham by three games to one,15/17,15/12,15/7,15/7, in the KBC Peel Hunt Invitation Singles served to emphasise that this is no mere cliché The round robin matches had not turned up any surprise results and both Guy and Harry had won their respective groups without dropping a game and Larken and Hubbard coming second having won two out of their three matches. The semi finals, however had proved more of an obstacle. Foster beat Jonathan Larken 15/18,15/10,15/8,17/14 by dint of a mixture of superior serving, serving more than twice the number of aces and sheer determination Larken had not played on the Queen's court in practice and this showed ,particularly in his return of serve. Smith-Bingham also had a tricky time in beating Mark Hubbard, 15/1,14/17,15/6,5/15,15/2, and only showed his quality in the final game when he played at his best. The first game of the final started with Guy in the box but he only won one point before an excellent return from Harry put him out. Foster went to 3/1 with two aces and then Smith-Bingham having got back in took a 6/3 lead with 3 aces of his own. Foster served another 2 aces in going to 8/6 but Smith-Bingham then took control of the game taking a 14/8 lead and looking as if he would win in that hand, Harry only being in the match because of some very determined retrieving, and this same grit and four more aces took him from 8/14 down to 14 all before Guy put him out with an excellent forehand and although he only took a single point himself, he managed to get back in the box at 15 all and took the next two points and the game 17/14. Smith-Bingham looked to be still in control of the second game taking the lead at 4/2 and 5/3 despite phenomenal retrieving by the holder, but Foster served 3 aces to go to 7/5, 5 of his 7 points had come from service aces and then went to 9/6 with 2 more aces. Guy levelled the scores at 9 each but in his next hand Harry advanced to game point. Smith-Bingham fought back to 12/14 but Foster was by now frustrating Smith-Bingham who in attempting to finish the rallies quickly was making errors and lost the game when he tried to hit a winner off a fault and hit it into the tin to lose the game, 12/15. A feature of the match would turn out to be the imbalance in service aces; Foster serving 32, Smith-Bingham 14. Of the 14 he served Guy served 7 in the first game 4 in the second and only 1 and 2 in the 3rd and fourth games respectively . Harry's ratio being 8,9,6 and 9. The third and fourth games followed similar patterns, with both games being close early in the piece and then Foster having a good run of serve to go well clear and win both by a score of 15/7. Smith-Bingham took a 6/3 lead in the 3rd, served a poor serve onto the back wall, Foster took two points, Smith-Bingham back in, went to 7/5 then repeated his previous error and this time when Foster got in to serve he went from 5 to 13 and although Smith-Bingham put him out he was unable to score and Foster took the game with his 22nd and 23rd aces. In what turned out to be the final game Harry and Guy had 7 turns in the box for only 2 points each before, Guy having served a double fault, Harry had a run of 7 to go to 9/2. Guy reached 5/10 before yet another double allowed Foster back and he went to 12/5 and then came back in at 12 /7 and he then served another 3 service aces to take the game and the match by 3 games to 1. Other Links ....................................................................................................................................... Read About The History Of Rackets From its roots of a game played outside taverns, through to the modern game. About The Past Champions The past and present leading players of the game. Find Out The Latest Results In The World Of Rackets All the results, fixtures and draws for the UK game.