Manchester Gold Racquet 2025

The 2025 edition of the Manchester Gold Racquet was a smaller edition than previous years. A tightly packed but highly competitive draw of 17 players descended upon Manchester for the tournament – with the late withdrawal of #1 seed Will Annetts making the draw wide open before the first ball of the tournament was struck.

Notable early results on the Friday were James Medlow coming through in 3 games against Rugby pro Valla Scott-Geddes and Dylan Kent overcoming Oscar Butcher in a nerve-wracking 2 games 15/14 15/13. Wilf Walker also gave new #1 seed James Rossiter an almighty fright in the quarter-final, losing in a tight 3^rd game. Medlow was then able to reach his first semi-final as a Rackets player, defeating Kent in another 3-game marathon where both players used all of their energy reserves in a push to reach a semi-final against #2 seed Oli Cooke. #4 seed Robert Shenkman also won through to a 3^rd Gold Racquet semi-final, beating Magnus Garson 2-0.

In the semi-finals, the 1 and 2 seeds proceeded untroubled. Rossiter defeated Shenkman in straight games and Cooke did the same to Medlow. The players then enjoyed a tremendous black tie dinner upstairs at the Manchester Club, which included a history lesson by former President Brendan Hegarty about former world champions Punch Fairs and Peter Latham.

In the final, spectators were unsure on who to pick as the winner before the match and they were treated to a thrilling final on Sunday morning. Cooke came out of the blocks firing and carried off the first game with his hard hitting backhand giving him the edge over Rossiter. He carried this momentum into the second game, with accurate and penetrative serving from the left side counteracting Rossiter’s excellent returning of serve. Rossiter came back strongly in the 3^rd reducing the deficit to 2-1 but Cooke was not to be denied, securing a first major singles title by winning 3-1 in the final.

In the doubles draw, all results went to seed however there were close battles on both sides of the draw. Finishing at around 10pm on Friday night the scratch pairing of Rossiter and George Acheson-Gray (late replacement for Annetts) defeated James Medlow and Wilf Walker 15/12 in the final game. Brothers Magnus and Lazlo Garson then also took Rossiter and Acheson-Gray deep into the 3^rd game before succumbing in the first semi final. Cooke and Oscar Butcher were comparatively untroubled in their route to the final, not dropping a game in the process.

The final was a classic. Cooke and Butcher appeared the heavy favourites on paper but in a see saw battle, Rossiter was able to put the disappointment of losing the singles behind him to take charge of the doubles final. Despite Cooke and Butcher leading 1-0 and then 2-1, Rossiter and Acheson-Gray were able to peg them back both times and eventually carried off the title 3-2. Credit was definitely due to Rossiter for dominating the final in champion fashion and to Acheson-Gray who also played his part in defence.

Thanks at the presentation were given to James Asher, James Medlow, Sam Matthews and Valla Scott-Geddes for shouldering the brunt of the marking and for Stella Heap and her team for contributing to an excellent off court weekend. The tournament also could not have taken place without the generosity and support of Pete Nicholson of Consumer Credit Solutions.

It is hoped that a similarly strong draw will attend the tournament again in 2026, with the camaraderie and sportsmanship on show from all players making the event a joy to be a part of!