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Concordia squash 2015 handicap semis

29/4/2015

Concordia Squash Players,

Oh what complicated lives. Due to circumstances beyond my control (nothing to do with court availability) the Handicap final scheduled for Friday has been postponed. On that note there are two courts going spare at 6.40pm and 7.20pm on Friday 1st May if anyone wants to use them, first come first served.

This is how the competition panned out.

On Monday Rob Owen continued his streak of length nicks this time against Keith Grey and off the forehand drive. He was too strong for Keith and won 2-0 to earn a match against Mr Hedley.

Joe Race had a marathon with Robin Ritchie who put up a strong fight. Great match with Joe coming through 21-19 in the third. Tony Hedley eased through his quarter against a plucky Peter Edney, never short on effort.

Gary Storey's fitness and speed overturned Ian Morton's racket skills, a good match to watch.

Tuesday saw 2 straight forward semi finals, Tony Hedley beat Rob Owen and Gary Storey beat Joe Race with a solid length game.

The final with Gary Storey v Tony Hedley is to be arranged.

Cheers Ian Mc

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Concordia Squash Club Handicap 2015

25/4/2015

1 Comment

Normally I would give an over view of how the competition unfolded and include some of the highlights. I have a dilemma here since there were so many, in fact I can’t think of any low lights.

For the last 4 years the 1st round format has been the 3 man round robin group stage primarily introduced to get everyone in the club together irrespective of standard. In an ideal world I would have liked to see more players from the lower leagues taking part but I understand not all can commit so much time to a squash tournament. Despite this there was a large entry and the 1st round was split over Monday and Tuesday evening.

On a personal note it was good to see some juniors entrants, I’m sure their experience in the competition will hold them in good stead for the future. All gave good account of themselves.

With all players having to play 2 games on the night and fighting for the maximum points tally (84- see results table below) there was much toil.

Monday saw all the higher handicapped players going through although non of them had an easy time of it.

Bill Johnson provided the entertainment on the lighter side with good humored banter during his encounters with top handicapper Tony Hedley and Ian Rowe who has just returned to the game after a few years, I won’t say how many.

It seemed the best was saved until last on Monday night with a great battle between Dave Hall and Rory Whalling. No shortage of effort or ability with a closely fought contest and many long rallies.

(In fact Dave went on to provide what was the contest of the tournament so far when he played Gary Storey in the last 16.)

Really entertaining squash.

Tuesday caused some logistic problems for the organiser when we ran out of court time. My error in failing to factor in an additional group late on. Thank you to Keith Grey and Dave Hall who saved the day with a ’spare’ court and to the players who had to play way more squash on Wednesday to catch up, they were Robin Ritchie, Mark Coxon, Martin Davison and particularly Keith Grey and Peter Archibold.

Just like the previous night, it was late on when 2 real battles unfolded. Robin Ritchie was up against a much improved Mark Coxon while Peter Archibold had a monumental battle with Martin Davison. Martin then had another battle with Keith Grey.

2 games were left unfinished at 1-1 with the game between Keith Grey and Peter Archibold not played at all. With an early Wednesday start these matters were resolved and the last 16 started in earnest.

1st Round Points Tally

Joe Race                  84pts

John Ormsby            70pts

Adam Rowe              74pts

Tony Hedley              84pts

Bill Johnson              65pts

Ian Rowe                  81pts (unable to play the next round)

Ian Morton                84pts

Derek Railston          74pts

Dave Barlow             71pts

Gary Story                84pts

Mark Knott               72pts

Steve Lavery            73pts

Dave Hall                 84pts

Rory Whaling           75pts

Jonny Woodhouse   79pts

Andy Lawrence       84pts

Bruno Gaultier         61pts

James Rowe           82pts

Dan Cussak            84pts

Rob Owen               82pts

Luke Fecitt              74pts

Nick Fecitt               62pts

Peter Edney            84pts

Elliott Harrison         77pts

Peter Archibold        75pts

Martin Davison         77pts

Keith Grey                84pts

Robin Ritchie            81pts

Mark Knott                65pts

Mark Coxon              84pts

Thank you to Mark Knott who selflessly stood in at the last minute to ensure the group stages stayed honest on both Monday and Tuesday night.

The last 16.

Robin Ritchie proved too strong for Jonnie Woodhouse although Jonnie is showing he too is improving.

Joe Race beat the young James Rowe.

Andy Lawrence lost to Rob Owen who served strongly on the night, never seen so many nicks off Rob’s serve ! You don’t get the nicks for nothing, clever squash.

Ian Morton beat Dan Cussack.

Tony Hedley was far too strong for Mark Coxon despite a -20 handicap. Mark worked very hard but was beaten by an immaculate length game.

Keith Grey beat Elliott Harrison- another junior who shows great promise.

Never short of effort, Peter Edney put in a great performance to beat Martin Davison. Entertaining stuff.

Last but not least, Gary Storey beat Dave Hall in what was the match of the tournament so far. At one all and after many many long rallies it looked like youth would be the deciding factor with Dave looking tired. Not so. Dave played some great squash, found a new source of energy and kept a 5 point lead until the mid teens.

Gary was showing signs of pressure with the odd unforced error but continued to keep the rallies going. It paid off in the end, Gary took his last 5 points in succession. 21-14 in the end. A great game of squash.

Please support the event, the quarter finals are on Monday 27th April, 6.40pm start.

Ian Mc

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Concordia squash 2015 handicap semis

Concordia Squash Club Handicap 2015

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