Following the closure of the Westerfolds Bayswater courts the 2022 ESRA Open Racquetball Championships were played for the first time, at the state of the art Tonic Squash and Gym located in Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. This was the first racquetball tournament held since our lives and sport have been ravaged by COVID-19 - only one tournament has been run nationally since the SA Open in March 2020. Considering all this, we were delighted by number of players who were keen to get back on the court in both singles and doubles; with very strong fields in both the Men's and Women's Open. Not surprisingly the King of Racquetball Cam White claimed the Men's title, extending his unbeaten record into its twenty second year. First time player, Tonic owner and ex squash champ, Amelia Martin, took out the Women’s Open crown in a powerful, convincing display. Tonic’s Chris England teaming with Mulgrave’s Nelson Turner won the Open Doubles title.
TRIBUTE TO PAUL VEAR
The whole racquetball community mourns the loss of our grand master, Paul Vear, and this tournament was dedicated to his memory. Clearly the most influential and significant contributor to the sport’s development and growth since 1977, Paul had more recently driven resurgent growth of racquetball in Regional Victoria and into other States with the establishment of the National Tournament Circuit. The ESRA tournament committee will attest to the amount of work they had to cover that normally would have been done by Paul. The man was a giant and his passion for racquetball unequaled. It is going to be difficult for us to cover the amount of volunteer work Paul put into our sport.
Read more HERE.