It’s time for the first racketlon tournament of 2025. The World Tour goes to New Zealand for the first time!
New Zealand has a decent racketlon history. The Oceania Championships were hosted in Auckland in 2015. This weekend’s venue, Massey University in Palmerston North, has also been home to the national racketlon Championships since 2017.
However, this is the start of a new era as New Zealand hosts its first ever official FIR World Tour event.
Previous World Tour title winners seeded 1 and 2
Plenty has been written about the top 2 seeds – they each have a World Tour title to their name (Sion Wiggin won the 2024 Australian Open & Leigh Sands won the 2023 Thailand Open)
The only other player in the draw with an active world ranking is Julian Main. The table tennis and tennis star from Christchurch has played racketlon in Germany, Switzerland, England and Australia.
Let’s take a look at the World Tour debutants. The ones that the seeds are hoping not to meet in the early rounds when the draw is released later this week.
5 time national squash champion to make his World Tour debut
Kashif Shuja is well acquainted with elite sport. Since retiring from squash, the Pakistani born player has turned to racketlon and is now number 3 in the NZ Tour rankings.
Asked about his rise in the local rankings, Shuja downplayed his progress.
“Just general passion for Racketlon and help from the racketlon community in NZ.”
“I’ve been preparing pretty well and feeling pretty confident with fitness,” he added. “Just looking forward to a fun event.”
Sean Martin has been highlighted by Sion Wiggin as a contender.
“I would keep an eye out on Sean Martin. Really good Tennis player, handy Squash Player. He’s handy in the other ones too on his day,” warned Wiggin. “His son Hayden is decent too. District rep in Badminton and recently got a US College Scholarship for Tennis. Could be a good one to watch too.”
The pair will also be teaming up in the Men’s Doubles.

Sean Martin appeared to be relaxed ahead of his World Tour debut.
“It is awesome having like minded players who enjoy being active, include sports we love and we even throw in a bit of banter…ok, perhaps lots of banter!”
“It is a great experience to have the opportunity to compete against players in their respective sports during a Racketlon – if it was a single sport, I would never get the opportunity to appreciate the skill and talent of some players.”
Insanely strong squash field in the Women’s A Grade
If you’re in Palmerston North this weekend, make sure you check out the women’s squash!
We have:
- Holly Shuja – A Grade Squash player. Represented her region in NZ District Team Championships.
- Abbie Holmes – former pro, reached a PSA World ranking of 351
- Anabel Romero Gemmell – current Under 19 NZ Squash Champion, has represented NZ multiple times in the World Junior Squash Championships.
All of the women in this year’s New Zealand Open will be making their debut on the World Tour.
However, Romero Gemmell and Shuja are ranked 1 and 2 respectively on the NZ Tour.
Follow the tournament via our Social Media. The draws will be published here