LUKE Bishop, the Taunton-based squash and racketball player, has returned to number one in the current UK men’s national racketball rankings.

This followed his triumph in the East of England Open, which was played at Broxbourne before the coronavirus lockdown last month.

Bishop, who plays at the Wyvern Club in Taunton, progressed to the men’s final, where he met Callum Arnott, a player from the Isle of Wight who was ranked number seven in the country.

This was a high quality, competitive match lasting the best part of an hour, with Bishop winning 2-1 in the end.

Bishop then teamed up with Hertfordshire’s Amber Marshall in the doubles, and they proved to be the standout combination.

The pair went on to secure the event without dropping a game.

An outstanding weekend and two titles, which took Luke’s total to 10 UK Racketball Series wins.

This followed a previous run of four competition wins, which had taken Bishop up to number two in the rankings.

In the East Midland Racketball series event in Nottingham, Bishop advanced to the men's singles final, where he beat Ted Jeal (Kent) 2-1.

Bishop then partnered another Somerset player, Natalie Lawrence from Wellington, in the National Mixed Doubles, played on the same day.

This was the first time they had competed but they went on to secure the national title with a 2-0 win against the Hertfordshire pairing of Adam Grilli and Amber Marshall.

The following day it was back down to Taunton for the Somerset Men’s Closed Racketball Tournament, where Bishop beat Matt Baker 3-2 in the final.

As if that run of success in racketball wasn't enough, Bishop also won the Somerset Men’s County Closed Squash Tournament.

He progressed to the final to play Jonathan Taubert, also from Wyvern but now based in London.

This was a hard-fought encounter, with Bishop coming out on top 3-1, to secure the title for the eighth time.