Between the glass walls on the squash court, a French and an American woman exhaust themselves and each other. In the other hall, two men over fifty years old hit a shuttle over the net, next to it are two children no older than 11 years old playing against each other. And out on the clay court, an elite player from India tries to beat his Austrian challenger. It’s a divers field of competitors at the World Championship Racketlon in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In age, in sex and in level. In that wide field of participants, two young English brothers stand out: Leon and Luke Griffiths, aged 23 and 19 years old, are the best racketlon players in the world.
The two grew up in London, playing badminton and tennis. A perfect basis for the combination of sports that is racketlon. At school the brothers played some table tennis, so they only had to teach themselves squash. “And that is pretty much the same movement and stretching as badminton”, Luke says. A match in racketlon consists of four sets. One in each sport, each set in all of the four sports is played to 21 points. The order of the sports is determined by the length of the racket, smallest first. So each match begins with table tennis, then badminton, squash and finally tennis.
Charms of the sport
If you are exceptionally good at one sport, you can win a set with 21-0, but you can still lose the game. “Can you name another sport where you can lose with those numbers and still can win the match?”, Leon says. “It happens to all of us.” There are tournaments and matches where former top players in one particular sport show up. They will wipe their opponents of the table in table tennis or show them all corners of the squash cage, but they are not necessary the best racketlon players. “One of the charms of the sport is that you have to perform well in all four sports. On one day you’ll feeling better at table tennis, the next day you’ve got that feeling on a tennis court. In a racket sport it can really go in any direction very quickly. You can also see that with us, it really depends on the shape of the day.”
The two are all-round, placed first (Luke) and second (Leon) at the World Cup in Rotterdam and are the ones to beat at grounds of tennis- and squash club Victoria. Luke Griffiths made it to the national junior level in badminton and Leon also played in national competitions in the sport. “Because we started playing badminton at an early age, we often have an advantage. That is perhaps the sport that is played the least and where the level of some players gets behind.”
Battle of Brothers
Leon is three and a half years older than Luke, so they were constantly in a different youth category at a younger age and did not play against each other. It’s only untill now, playing in the elite group, they can compete and fight the battle of the brothers on the four playgrounds. “And we play together! We became world champions in doubles”, they say proudly.
“But if we play against each other, it will be competitive of course. It’s different when you play against your brother. But that doesn’t involve throwing rackets or anything. At least, not that often…” they laugh. “There is only one rule: the loser has to buy the first couple of drinks”, says Leon, which is an extra motivation for Luke. “I can’t afford to lose, I don’t have that much money.”
Steel nets
“It’s funny because during the lockdown a few years ago, of course everything was closed and we couldn’t play. But in our neighborhood there is a public tennis court, which had not been closed down. It’s really a rubbish field with steel nets and stuff, but we often played there. There were a few firy matches there, I think! Mainly, because we both know we can win.”
At a racketlon tournament and therefore also at this World Championship, the community stands out. Not only the top players play their matches, there is room for different ages on the fields around the center courts. It’s the grassroots element of the sport. The first category is under 11, the last over 70. “That’s great. Everyone likes to give themselves every game, no matter what racket they’re holding, and then socialize and have a drink afterwards.”
The brothers still have a long racketlon career ahead. In Rotterdam they are hoping for an All Griffiths World Championship final. “That would be great, but there are a lot of top players.” And off they go. Searching for their next court, their next opponent.