Kirsten Rackets Atkinson

UK Racketlon Ladies Training Day August 2025

I was excited and proud to have organised the first UK Racketlon Ladies Training day this weekend with great success! We had 19 participants in total and 3 'non-playing' coaches. Thank you again to all my amazing volunteers, without whom the day would not have been possible ❤️ Popping this photo here as a memory to look back on

British Championships 2025!!

I had a fantastic weekend at this weekend playing in the British Racketlon Championships. I improved on my results from last year, coming 4th in all 3 of my categories (Women's A Singles, Women's A Doubles and Mixed A Doubles). I was particularly pleased to see great improvements in my squash and badminton, which I have been working hard on!

Thank you to my partners (we should have got a photo!! 😩) and Reuben and to and the other volunteers for organising such a fantastic event! Thank you also to from for visiting us on saturday and giving us the opportunity to try out all the fantastic karakal merchandise!

Now for a week of night shifts before getting back to work! Next tournament is the Redbridge Open in May!

All-time World Ranking high and Cambridge Tier 4 Badminton Tournament! (My first ever badminton tournament!)

Last weekend (30th March) I travelled down to Cambridge to compete in my first ever badminton tournament (other than the School Championships In 6th form 😂)

I had a great time competing against some very good badminton players, with lots of very good rallies. I did not win any matches but all gained lots of experience and insight into my own game and look forward to entering more later in the year!

It was also lovely to see my good friend .bailey1 and we had a lovely time catching up, thank you again for hosting me!

I am also excited to be in 4th place in the FIR race at the moment for the first time and achieve an all time racketlon world ranking high in singles and mixed doubles this month entering the top 30 in Singles, top 50 in Mixed Doubles and re-entering the top 20 in Women's Doubles 🎊

SWT Polish Open 2025!!

I had a fantastic weekend playing in my first SWT tournament in Poland.

In ladies doubles I paired up with for the first time and we came home with our first SWT podium in 3rd place. We won our quarter final against a Polish pair Anna and Aleksandra before losing a close semi-final to and Kirsten Kaptein, 21-11 22-10 10-21 12-21. We then won our 3rd/ 4th play off before tennis to secure our podium position ☺️ well done to Holly and Stine for winning!

I also entered my first Mixed A doubles with , coming up against some very tough competition, we unfortunately lost both of our matches but gained lots of experience.

I entered the Women's A Singles and played some really fun matches against , Kirsten and Anna. Unfortunately only getting to tennis against Anna who only needed 1 point, but seeing improvements in my badminton scores since previous meetings

I also enjoyed spending time with , Emma, Wendy and Dave in between matches and having great chats.

Overall, a fantastic experience, with lots learned. I can't wait to get back training and keep moving forward! Next comp is the British Champs in 3 weeks time 👀

End of 2024 Review!

This is very delayed due to other things going on in my life but wanted share my progress (if anything for myself to look back on!) There are also so many people who have made this year amazing and so I have chosen not to tag people as it would take too long but you know who you are!

I achieved many of my goals in 2024, first and foremost I managed to avoid major injuries that took me out of playing for 4 months 😂 but managed to finish the year with only 2 injuries, a minor one in my shoulder at the start of the year and a moderate one of my back at the end of the year but these helped me to identify weaknesses to target in Physiotherapy and have finally convinced me to do weights (in 2025 👀)

UK:
I played in the A category Singles and Doubles for the first time at The British Championships, coming 6th in the Singles and 5th in the Doubles. I played the Mixed B and came 6th. I played in several UK Tournaments but unfortunately didn't podium in any! I enjoyed my first year on the UK Racketlon Board!

Year End Ranking: 16 (up from 17 last year!)

International:
I entered my first World Doubles Championship and my first World Singles Championship, coming 4th in the Women's B Doubles (10th overall), 6th in the Mixed B Doubles (14th overall) and joint 5th the Women's C Singles (29th). I played and podiumed at my first Elite FIR IWT tournament in Norway and came 3rd in the Elite Singles, 2nd in the Elite Doubles and 2nd in the Mixed B. I also had some good match results in the IWT Nordic Racket Games.

But the biggest achievement of all was getting chosen to represent Great Britain for the first time in their newly created 5th team and then coming 3rd in the Challenger Cup. It really was the highlight of the year and a moment I will remember forever.

Year End Rankings (top achieved):
Singles - 45 (34)
Doubles - 21 (11)
Mixed - 71 (59)

All significant improvements on last year, making the top 20 in Doubles in October

Thank you everyone who has been a part of my racketlon journey so far and I can't wait to get started on the 2025 season this weekend in Finland!