Masters South Of England
Broxbourne
Jan 6th-8th 2012
A good turnout of 116 players (24 Women) saw the first Masters Tournament of the New Year, at Broxbourne, just off the M1. A sports club with hockey, cricket and tennis facilities, it houses 5 courts and judging by the amount of people in the bar every time we go, it is very popular with the locals.
Starting with the Women’s events, the WO50/60 combined saw favourite Helen Gould from Portishead, Bristol, record another Regional as she beat all comers Sue Pynegar, Lynn Davies and Maggie Lipscombe, a very talented 60 year old, who was an old sparring partner of Bett Dryhurst and would certainly give her a run for her money.
In the Final, Helen beat Tammy Bennett, who claimed two scalps in Jill Campion, back after a few years absence and an out of sorts Karen Hume. Campion also beat Hume 10/9, 4/9, 9/5, 1/9, 2/9. The Final saw Gould’s power just too pervasive for Bennett who took the third and effected a comeback in the fourth, which she nearly sneaked.
In the WO40 Isabelle Tyrell again edged Sam Mueller, 10/9, 5/9, 3/9, 9/4, 9/0, the latter’s power game probably needing to be reined in a little with some trickle boasts and straight drops. Tyrell’s game is tennis based, but very effective.
Alison Goy and Julia Dolman had hard matches but there were gaps in the scheduling as Jo Brown dropped out at the last minute with illness.
In the O35’s, an influx of International standard newcomers has seen a big improvement in quality and speed and this time Alexa Prior effected revenge over East winner Tina May 3-1. Katie Lawrence beat Rachel Calver in the 3rd place play off 3-2 in a very tight match.
In the Men’s O75, Andrew Beeston was in control until, unfortunately, whilst leading Lance Kinder 9/4, 9/4 there was an accidental collision which sent Lance into the wall, causing some facial damage. Lance retained his good looks, but Andrew conceded the match as Lance was unable to continue.
The Round Robin winner was still Beeston however, with John Woodliffe second, having beaten Lance in their umpteenth match together.
In the Men’s O65, a very strong draw saw two World Champions and one went out in the Quarters, Adrian Wright going tamely down to European Champion Rod Boswell. The other two Quarters were humdinger hour long encounters and Martin Pearse came back from 3/9, 4/8 to record a narrow 3/9, 10/8, 9/7, 4/9, 9/6 victory over Mike Clemson, who is getting closer in his bid to claim a first victory over the Chairman. Ansell, however, showed incredible resolve as staring defeat at 3/8 down in the fifth against shot playing Graham Fisher, he stuck in and sneaked it 8/10, 10/8, 9/5, 7/9, 10/8. However, Boswell and Chris Goodbourn both had had easy morning matches and the Semi’s proved a bridge too far as Boswell edged Pearse 9/6, 9/6, 9/5 in a tight encounter, and Ansell only showed his mercurial volleys in the second game, which he took 9/2, Goodbourn winning 9/4, 2/9, 9/3, 9/1.
The Final, however, was one of the best matches I have ever had the pleasure to watch – seriously! Both players are very comfortable on the ball and Boswell’s delay, especially on the backhand, seems to have improved with age. The match was literally nip and tuck, incredible drops and volleys, with both players moving around the court like youngsters. As it was, Goodbourn had two match balls in the fourth and Boswell kept his nerve. In the fifth, his drops and backhand volley came to the fore as Goodbourn made some crucial errors, leaving himself too much to do. A great event for Masters Squash, just a pity I didn’t video it for You Tube.
The Men’s O60 saw local hero (he has taken over from the semi retired Len Froggitt) David Cooper back in the Regionals after a long gap. Seeded at 3/4 he overturned Larry Grover 9/5, 1/9, 5/9, 3/9 and No 1 seed Mick Broomhall 3/9, 8/10, 8/10.
In the bottom half, a clean shaven Howard Cherlin found Barry Featherstone revenge seeking after the ICC and the latter’s persistence paid off with a 3/9, 8/10, 9/0, 9/7, 4/9 scoreline to enter the Final. Cooper, however, was well pumped up and kept the power on to win 3-1, Featherstone claiming the third but to no avail.
In the O55’s No 3 Ruston Bativala dropped out with back spasms , so Colin Shields was through to the Semi without a match having also had a walkover in the Quarter Final due to a family funeral for John Goodrich. Stuart Hardy 3/4 found Duleep Adihetty too tight, 9/5, 9/0, 2/9, 9/3, and Steve Johnson upped a gear over Shields after losing the first 7/9 - then 9/0, 9/2, 9/0. The Final was an anti climax as Johnson had to retire early with a hamstring injury.
The O50’s saw North (Ged Martin) beat South (James Ockwell) 6/9, 9/3, 5/9, 9/6, 1/9, in a tight Quarter Final but this impacted on Martin as he struggled later on in the day with Dermot Hurford 6/9, 6/9, 9/0, 6/9. Chris Harland took Ian Bradburn to task 9/6, 9/2, 9/0 and then in the semi Final with Greg Pearman, the latter was unfortunately forced to concede with blood sugar problems. The Final saw Harland back to form with a tight 3-0 win over his Surrey compatriot, Hurford.
In the MO45, Peter Lonsdale beat Andrew Eilfield 9/7, 9/7, 3/9,9/3 in the Quarters before falling to Eamonn Price. In the bottom section, Murray Scott overturned Marc Aldridge 3-0 and then in a major upset, Price actually lost a Regional! Scott, to me, in the changing rooms, said ‘I’ve got to beat him some time, maybe today is the day!’ And it was and a great advert for squash. Final score, Scott 9/5, 6/9, 9/7, 9/7. Scott hits the ball incredibly hard and is very accurate, similar to Mike Oddy, my old team mate.
The Men’s O40 (PARS scoring remember) saw No 1 seed Andrew Cross beat John Hanson 11/8, 11/6, 11/9 and Andrew Murray’s dicky knee prevented 100% movement, losing to Steve McLoughlin 11/8, 11/3, 11/7. Earlier on in the first round, an hour long battle between Nick Lavery and Mark Steeden saw Lavery through 13/11, 7/11, 11/7, 5/11, 11/9. In the Final, Cross and McLoughlin slogged it out 2/2 and Cross finally prevailed 11/6.
The MO35 saw Ben Hutton overturn No 2 Jago Nardelli 11/7, 11/0, 10/12, 11/7, but then Mat Lowery made his first final beating Hutton 7/11, 11/3, 11/8, 11/5. Jamie Goodrich had his usual hour and a bit with Barny Elworthy 3/1 and the latter was not particularly popular with the referee after some interaction. And another health/injury anti climax in the Final as Jamie Goodrich pulled his hamstring right at the beginning. And, as he now knows, stupidly carried on, as he is out of squash for a few weeks. So Lowery claimed his first regional and some very valuable points.
Finally, thanks to Karen Lane who as usual did a superb job as the club organizer, helped by Vernon Jane and Gill. Also to a full complement of ESR markers - and to the Broxbourne Club and Staff for all the food drink and hospitality!
Martin Pearse
Chairman