On May 26-27, 30 players use their racquets to contest the Granby Racketlon Challenger title. In the Elite division, American Bryan Song upsetted the #2 seed Jeremy Easterbrook, only to lose to the heavy favorite and #1 player in Canada , Patrick Laplante. The “B” was also won by a player from Granby: long distance runner Philippe Côté-Jacques ran over the field. Jonathan Deschênes is second.
The over 45 category was a replay of the semis in Massachusetts one month before with Rod Bedard beating Marc Fortin, Hugo Fréchette is third. That’s two tournaments in a row for Rod.
In the “C” Hugo Fréchette proved to be too strong for the field.
First seeded player in the juniors, Anthony Bédard encountered a strong field of table tennis players, too strong in fact. Guillaume Blais, who is also an excellent badminton player, won the gold while Gabriel Angers is second.
The last event of the tournament was the elite doubles with an unlikely final: Patrick Laplante and 14 years old Nathan Bédard had to face Jeremy Easterbrook and 16 years old Anthony Bédard. After beating a few adults teams to reach the final, the juniors had their hands full with a close tennis match that finished 21-17 for Nathan and Patrick. The score being tied after the four sports, a gummy arm (tie-breaker point) was to be contested.
Jeremy and Anthony won the title in a not so fashionable way. Ask Pat if you want some details…. Let’s say that the serve is important! Many thanks to Patrick and Richard Soucy for hosting the event.
Thank you also to The Shed resto-bar for the good food. Ping-Pong Depot and Black Knight for their sponsorship
Main picture is the doubles finalists and winners.
Pictures below are Pat Laplante and Bryan Song, the second one is the O-45 winners, Rod Bédard and Marc Fortin with Richard Soucy in grey.
