Throughout February, over on the SquashGearReviews Instagram page, we’ve been running a competition to find the unofficial ‘World’s Favourite Squash Racket‘.
It’s been an exciting tournament, with some incredibly close rounds, some shock upsets and plenty of big wins. I wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s voted in the tournament and took part.
There was tough competition from all brands. With rackets from Head, Dunlop, Tecnifibre, Eye, Ashaway and more in the tournament, there really was a ‘racket for everyone’ in this competition.
Ultimately, it’s fair to say this was a popularity contest. However, it’s always interesting to see the result! Just because something is the favourite, doesn’t necessarily mean it would be the best for your own personal style of play. However, a universally liked racket is always a good place to start if you’re in the market for something new.
Without further ado, the World’s Favourite Squash Racket is…
The Tecnifibre Carboflex Airshaft 125!
A worthy winner
The Carboflex Airshaft faced a tough route to the final, fending off competition from the Ashaway Powerkill 115ZX and the Head Radical 120SB in the first two rounds, followed by all-Carboflex derbies against the Cannonball and X-Speed 125 in the Quarter and Semi Finals. It beat the Dunlop Sonic Core Ultimate 132 in the final to take the crown of ‘World’s Favourite Squash Racket’.
The Tecnifibre Carboflex has proven time and time again to be an incredibly popular racket for squash players of all levels. I’m sure plenty of people would have had their money on this racket taking the victory.
Why is it the Carboflex Airshaft the world’s favourite racket?
There’s plenty of reasons why the Carboflex Airshaft is such a popular racket. Alongside having some incredible players using this racket (namely Mohamed and Marwan Elshorbagy, Nour El Sherbini, Hania El Hammamy and Gregoire March, to name a few!), the 125 features one of the most well-rounded spec-sheets on the market:
- At 125 grams, it’s relatively light weight (but not too light)
- The Carboflex has an even balance, making it both powerful and manoeuvrable
- It has a fairly dense 14×18 stringing pattern, meaning it offers plenty of control, touch and feel
- The large 500cm head makes it easier to generate power
- The Airshaft is a little more forgiving than previous versions of the Carboflex
- Subjectively speaking, the design of the Airshaft rackets is really nice. Tecnifibre make some seriously nice looking frames, and the Airshaft is no exception
- And finally, Carboflex rackets are built to last – you’ll rarely ever see a Carboflex racket in the ‘broken rackets bin’ at your local club!
All in all, these factors combine to make a racket that’s very hard to dislike. It does a little bit of everything, and does it really, really well.
Any downsides? It’s worth noting that some players, especially those less advanced, often comment on the fact that the racket is fairly unforgiving. Its small sweet spot and stiff frame can be difficult to adjust to, meaning off-centre shots are often more noticeable.
On the whole though, the Tecnifibre Carboflex is clearly a universally loved squash racket, and is a well deserved winner of The World’s Favourite Squash Racket!