January - February
2000 -- Vol. 11, No. 1

global

Tim Radder: In Memoriam
Submitted by Rene Hehemann

On Saturday evening of October 16, Tim Radder passed away in London, England at the age of 36. The previous day Tim, accompanied by his girlfriend Wendy Hackett (general-secretary of the Great Britain Racquetball Federation) and his brother Erik, had taken the ferry from the Netherlands to England. Tim and Wendy had decided to spend the rest of their lives together in England, and they and Tim’s brother were moving his things to his new destination in a small van.

In the late afternoon of the first day after unpacking, Tim decided to show his brother around London town. In the four years Wendy and Tim had known each other, Tim had visited England six times each year and knew his way around the capital. But Tim was not feeling well that day, which he explained in part by having had a busy two days. When the brothers returned home early that evening, Wendy saw right away that Tim was not looking good. She advised him to go to bed early, but after about half an hour Tim woke up having trouble breathing. A doctor and an ambulance were called, but his heart could not overcome his asthma attack and he passed away that night. Tragically, his future in England with Wendy had lasted less than 24 hours.

Tim began playing racquetball in 1980, when he was a sixteen-year-old who attended the opening of Racketcenter De Leyens in Zoetermeer and was immediately caught by our sport. He became one of the very first members of the club and remained active there until four days before going to England. On that last Tuesday evening, Tim solemnly swore to return regularly to Zoetermeer, see his friends and play racquetball.

Over the years Tim had been a regular traveller to tournaments around Europe, occasionally accompanying the national team to European Championships and once attended the 1992 World Championships in Montreal. He always helped out as much as he could — it was his way of making friends around the world. He assisted with the Floriade Tournament, the World Games, and when national teams from the USA and Canada came to visit the Netherlands, he was always around. [Photo: Alan Engel, Tim Radder & Sudsy Monchik]

When Tim was present, there was never a dull moment. He was always cheerful and with the way he played with words, he frequently got people wrong-footed and in a laughing mood. With these wordgames and cheerful mood, he also had been hiding the asthma that later claimed his life. I vividly remember the tournament in the early eighties, when Tim and I went to Switzerland and England and the great time we had. Four years ago he met Wendy during the European Championships in Ireland, and the two had grown closer and closer. To my knowledge, they were the first European racquetball-couple.

On the day of Tim’s cremation, over 140 family, relations, friends and colleagues came to pay their last respects. He leaves a huge emptyness in the lives of racquetball friends from Belgium Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and world-wide. For his family and Wendy, this is an incredibly tragic loss. But Tim will always be remembered — especially on the last weekend in May, when the Gemini Open will be played (his initiative!). There I hope to see that the main award in the Men’s Open in this event, will be named in his honor. For myself, I will always remember that Tim taught me the ropes of racquetball. I thank him for being my friend.

Japan Nationals
Submitted by Yasushi Tanahara

At the Men’s 20th & Women’s 18th Japan National Racquetball Championship, more than 400 players participated at the regional qualifiers, and 72 men and 32 women who survived those elimination matches gathered at Sports Club Together in Fukuoka city. This was the first National to be held in Kyushu, the southern end of Japanese Islands, and many local racquetball fans enjoyed watching the heated matches of top players. There were also two newspapers that covered the event.

In the men’s division, No.2 seeded Hasegawa defeated the former national champion Sakai to win his first national title in his 15 years of racquetball career. Also, Yasuda won her long awaited first title in the women’s division. Both players got the ticket to the world championship which will be held in Mexico next year.

Men’s result: Bunya Hasegawa def. Shoichi Sakai; 3. Tadayosi Kawai; 4. Yoshihiko Higasi Women’s result: Shigemi Yasuda def. Yoko Mukai; 3. Etuko Noda; 4. Toshiko Sakamoto

University of Southern Colorado Takes Mexico!
From material by Richard Krinsky & Harvey Brannigan

Eight members of the USC men’s collegiate national champion racquetball team were invited in late September to play in a dual meet against a team of Mexican all-stars composed of members of the Mexican National and Pan-Am teams in Chihuahua, Mexico.

The much-heralded tournament was scheduled as an inaugural event for the grand opening of a new court facility in Chihuahua. The USC team visited the Governor of Chihuahua’s office on Friday morning, followed by formal opening ceremonies later that afternoon and match play beginning at 5:00 PM. The finals were played on Saturday evening followed by a banquet and the awarding of the Friendship Cup.

Each team member played two singles and one doubles match. Players were seeded 1-8 and paired against opponents of the same ranking. The USC squad won the tournament with victories in ten of the singles matches and five of the doubles. The new facility had glass back walls with stadium seating for 250 people per court, and all of the matches were sold out.

The trip to Chihuahua was a homecoming of sorts for four of the USC players who are from Chihuahua; Luis “Nacho” Bustillos, Sam Menache, Erwin Bernal, and Jesus “Chucho” Gutierrez. Bustillos played for Mexico in the Pan-Am games this summer and the other three players are either past or present members of the Mexican Junior National Team.

The USC team was led by top player Erin Brannigan, a junior from Sandpoint, Idaho. According to USC coach, Richard Krinsky, “Brannigan had a great tournament.” He defeated the long time Mexican National Champion Alvaro Maldonado in straight games, 15-8, 15-8 on Friday, then defeated the No.2 ranked Mexican, Enrique Esarza, 15-10, 15-11 on Saturday. He wrapped up the event by teaming with Bustillos to defeat the Mexican doubles team of Maldonado and Esarza, 15-10, 14-15, 11-10. Next year the Mexican Team will travel to Pueblo, Colorado to attempt to recapture the Friendship Cup.

European Racquetball Tour & Websites

The European Racquetball Federation has announced the first European Racquetball Tour, with a new schedule, new rankings and two web sites dedicated to its promotion. Two top European players — Pascal Matla from Holland (calendar and rules commissioner) and Philippe Lecomte from France (rankings and results comissioner) — will be working on this major project. They would be pleased to share ERT news with other websites, and promote European Racquetball with results, rankings, news, pictures from their events.

Contact them online via: Pascal Matla k.matla@worldonline.nl http://home.worldonline.nl/~kmatla/Index.htm

Philippe Lecomte Racquetball.Plus@wanadoo.fr http://assoc.wanadoo.fr/racquetball.plus/summary.htm