2007 Club
Championship
Information
Rules
Timetable
Names
Commentaries
Men's Tourn.
Ladies' Tourn.
Men's Plate
Ladies' Plate
Sunday 29th April - Finals
The format for the night was:
| 18:00 | Juniors Final | Matt Powell (1) v Thomas Heneghan (2) |
| 18:30 | Men's Plate | Ben Salcedo v Granthan Speake |
| 19:00 | Ladies' Final | Ros Porter (1) v Lisa Hobbs (2) |
| 19:30 | Men's Final | Paul Sewell (1) v Brett Green (2) |
Nibbles, prize-giving and speeches in the bar afterwards.
Juniors' Final
The evening started off with the juniors' final. This was between veteran
junior Matt Powell (1) and young Thomas Heneghan (2). The last time these
two met in a finals was in a handicap tournament, but this time it was off
scratch, so Thomas had his work cut out for him. With Matt's extra speed
and power, the outcome was never in any question, but sportingly he made a match
out of it and made sure Thomas could get into the rallies. Once the
rallies started, Thomas showed a great turn of speed around the court, and also
hit many excellent tight lengths, but his drops weren't attacking enough and
usually handed the advantage to Matt. Matt kept control of the T, kept
Thomas pinned to the back, and then then played lots of winning short shots that
Thomas missed by inches. Matt also played two reverse angles - I'll allow
one per match, but I'm giving him 10 pressups penance for the second one
(suspended because it actually won the point). Matt won 15/4 15/3 15/5.
Plate Final
The plate was a very close affair this year, and there was very little between
the eight of us. On his day, anyone could have won, but left handers Ben
Salcedo and Granthan Speake had a slight edge due to their regular match
experience and deservedly got through to the finals. I
missed almost all of this match because of taxi duties, but Richard Avery has
provided an interesting match report:
The match was always close, and every point was hard won. Granthan started the better, winning the first, then Ben came back to win the second.
I think it was in the third game that Ben had not one but two foot faults, the second of which caused him to ask the marker to go forth and multiply, and was duly reminded at the beginning of the fourth that there were children on the balcony and to mind his p's &
q's! He narrowly lost the third, which went set 2, 10-9. It is some measure of his determination that he was able to come back from this.
The fourth was crucial, particularly at 4-3 to Granth. The serve to'ed and fro'ed 9 times, before Ben scored and then went on to take an 8-4 lead. Granth battled hard, and managed to get one more point before Ben won drawing the match level.
There was a sense that Granth had let Ben off the hook, and so it proved. And yet, after Ben had taken a commanding lead in the fifth, Granth fought back from a 6-2 deficit to an 8-6 advantage, but yet again the tide turned, and set 2 was called for the second time in the match, but this time, Ben served out the match to win.
The final score was 9/7 7/9 9/10 9/5 10/8.
Ladies' Final
Only two ladies entered the tournament this year, but they gave a great
performance in one of the most exciting ladies' finals I remember seeing.
Ros Porter (1) is a good retriever, volleys everything she can and has developed
a nice attacking trickle boast (or 'chinny' as we call it here) from the front
of the court. Lisa Hobbs has improved out of all recognition this last
year through a dedication to training sessions and gaining a lot of match
experience from all the team games she has been playing - she is now building up
the power, particularly on the forehand side, and can dig anything out of the
back corners courtesy of a good retrieving boast. Lisa started off really
well, and led 3/0 and 7/4 in the first game with some good attacking straight
lengths and wrong-footing crosscourts. Ros kept her head, put in some good
high shots to the back and sucked Lisa into some front-of-court exchange of
drops all of which she won. This took Ros through to a 10/8 win in the
first game.
In the second game, Lisa came out all guns blazing. She kept up the power and moved Ros all around the court. Ros retrieved well, but Lisa was reaching all her drives and straightening them, and this allowed Lisa to build up a healthy 5/1 lead early on and then move swiftly through to 9/4. One game all. In the third, both ladies were still moving well, but Lisa still had an edge with the greater pace she could generate on her forehand drives. She was inclined to rush some of them though, and this dropped the power, and also made them pop out from the side wall. Lisa also lost confidence in her backhand straight drives from the front of the court, and cross-courted almost every shot, which took the pressure off Ros. In the end, Lisa's occasional use of power and a couple of errors from Ros gave Lisa the third game 9/6.
Lisa was now in a good position being 2-1 up in games, and Ros was under a lot of pressure. Ros rose to the occasion, and started moving Lisa around the court with some good lifted shots to the back followed by some nice drops. Lisa started playing 'tired' shots - half-hearted drops instead of the lengths she had been doing in the previous games, and Ros got to every one and outdropped her, or played her little trickle boast. Ros won this easily 9/1.
I don't know what Lisa did in the interval, but I'm not sure it was legal, as she found a new gear in the fifth game. Instead of the tired half-hearted shots she played in the fourth, she now started making great efforts to get the ball to the back of the court. Ros chased down everything, but several shots nicked or faded into the back corners, she had a couple of tinned drops, and all of a sudden Lisa was 6/1 up. I think this was when she served out, and this shook her slightly. Ros kept her head, played steadily, and started clawing back the points. But Lisa's lead meant that it was impossible to stop her getting to 8/4, match ball. Then Lisa served out again! A couple of rallies later, Ros hit the ball out of court - clearly the pressure was getting to both players, never mind the spectators! Slowly and surely, Ros won point after point to reach 8-all. Lisa called 'set 2'. The serve went backwards and forwards - both ladies got to to 9 - Lisa served for the match again - Ros won that point with a really good length - in the next rally, Lisa hit a loose shot, struggled to get back to the T, and couldn't reach Ros's return - 10/9 to Ros and the match. Ros won 10/8 4/9 6/9 9/1 10/9. This was a very enjoyable and exciting match to watch. From the colour of both ladies' faces after the match, they both gave everything they had. Well done!
Men's Final
It was difficult to predict the outcome of this match. Brett Green (2) has
actually beaten Paul Sewell (1) a couple of times in 'friendlies' over the last
few weeks, but under tournament conditions that could easily change. Also,
those of us who watched Paul's match against Tom Bomford saw Paul play with
invincibility - there was no shot he couldn't return, in fact there didn't seem
to be any shot he couldn't hit a winner from! Brett on the other hand
didn't seem so invincible - all his opponents earlier on in the tournament
seemed to be able to get significant numbers of points from him.
As soon as the match started, it became clear that Brett had another gear if not two that he had kept in reserve for this match. Paul started at his usual ferocious pace, but Brett seemed unfazed by this, and settled into an attritional game of no errors but still plenty of attacking squash. Paul moved ahead to a 3-1 lead helped by a couple of shots that nicked near the back. Brett stuck to his game plan and let Paul generate all the pace down the left-hand wall, just hitting good-length tight shots at half power back down the wall in reply. This gave Paul nothing to work on, and he started trying to force some winners which didn't quite come off. Brett also tried a few exchanges of front right drops which he mostly won - a tactic he kept doing throughout the match. Brett's steady persistence and refusal to be sucked into Paul's game gave him point after point, and he took the first game without dropping another point - 9/3.
A couple of years ago, Paul took a while to get going, and it wasn't until the second game that he really showed what he could do, so we were all looking forward to the next game. For the first few points, it was neck and neck. The pace was still tremendous with both players firing in attacking shots - Brett with his volley drops that were impossibly low on the front wall, and Paul with his boasts that pulled Brett forward and forced the defensive lob. But some of Paul's boasts weren't quite good enough, and Brett got there with time to play a really good straight drop - safe, but tight on the side wall. Paul who had been hanging back so he could volley the expected lob, had to throw himself forward to reach the drop (which he invariably did), but some of his shots weren't as tight as they might have been giving Brett some small advantages mid rally. Round about 2-2, Brett showed the first signs of vulnerability, trying out a crosscourt drop from the front of the court. I remember him doing these against Glenn Danks years ago in previous finals; they didn't work then, and they didn't work now. I think he tried out three in the match this evening, none of them nicked, and Paul hit winners off all of them. I'm going to add that shot to the reverse angle in my list of shots that should never be played in a serious match!
Anyway, crosscourt drops aside, Brett stuck with his game plan and inched ahead to 4-2. Paul showed us again what a great competitor he is by raising his game and killing some shots that really he shouldn't have been able to kill - perfectly respectable tight length shots. Again, Brett settled into a half-power line and length game giving Paul nothing to hit winners from. Paul seemed happy to rally with him for a while, but couldn't resist the odd half chance, took on some risky winners which again didn't quite come off. In one memorable rally, Paul hit a really good length shot down the left-hand wall. Brett attempted to drive it back down the wall, but it strayed out. Paul leapt in the air and did a volley kill into the front right nick. But it didn't quite die, and Brett, who knew exactly where it was going, sped across the court and flicked it into the air for Paul to repeat his volley kill into another nick. Again, he failed to get the dead nick and again, Brett just reached it and flicked it up. This pattern carried on for a while until Paul mishit one of his kills and it went into the tin. The result of all this was that Brett eventually took the second game 9/5.
With a 2-0 lead in games, Brett had to remain focussed as it would be so easy to relax at this stage which could be deadly against someone like Paul. Both players played exceptionally well at the beginning of the third game. The whole court was being used, and the all-out retrieving continued unabated. Once again Brett tried a crosscourt drop (his third and last), and the loss of that point seemed to drive him to play even better attritional squash and wait for Paul to make the mistakes. Paul made very few mistakes, but some of the rallies were well into the 20s and even low 30s in terms of numbers of shots. With that kind of standard, even playing just one error in fifty shots can have a serious outcome on the result. Brett pulled away from 2-all to 8-2, and then seemed to lose a bit of momentum. It was getting tense in the balcony, as Brett seemed to lose his way a bit and didn't even make an attempt to chase down a few shots that were easily within his capability at any other time in the match. Paul sensed his chance and fought back to 6-8. However, having had his brief rest, Brett won back the serve and finished off with a wrong-footing shot that Paul couldn't even attempt to get to. Game 9/6 to Brett. The overall score was 9/3 9/5 9/6
Although the score in this match was 3-0, it was certainly not one-sided. In fact, if Brett had eased up at any stage other than that brief stage at the end of the third game, the outcome could easily have been different. I think today we saw Brett at the top of his game, and Paul pressurised into a few (a very few) mistakes by the quality of Brett's retrieving.
Prize giving and nibbles
This was one of the longest finals nights I remember, but also one of the
best. It was great to see so many close matches, with all players giving
100%.
Richard Avery officiated at the prize giving and thanked all concerned. I should repeat that thanks here:
- Thanks to all who entered. It was really good to have a draw of 16 - no byes required in the first round. We're expecting a few more ladies to enter next year, and we should also be able to build up the junior tournament.
- Thanks to all who marked. I only marked three matches this year - I've never marked so few!
- Thanks to everyone who turned up to support when they weren't playing. That's what gives the tournament the atmosphere and makes it so enjoyable. Particular thanks to those who didn't enter and still turned up to watch.
Paul's Rant
Sorry to disappoint you, but there's none this year. To make up, I'll give
you double next year!
Saturday 28th April - Semi Finals
Tom Bomford (5) played well (occasionally brilliantly) against Paul Sewell (1), but found himself under enormous pressure. It didn't matter whether Tom hit perfect drops, millimetre-accurate boasts, or even disguised perfect length and width drives to the back when Paul was in the diagonally-opposite corner; Paul got to everything with ease, and usually with sufficient time to chose which corner he was going to send Tom to next. Tom got 1 point, but deserved lots more for living with the pace.
Martin Kiff (3) put up a good struggle against Brett Green (2), but Brett's shots ensured that Kiffy did the lion's share of the running. Kiffy's fitness was up to it, and he played some really good drop shots, but Brett was able to pick off shots that strayed away from the sidewall by more than a few inches. Brett won 9/3 9/5 9/5.
Paul Heneghan and Ben Salcedo battle it out in the first plate semi final. Paul was all fired up in the first game, and took it 9/7, but then Ben tightened up his game, and Paul played looser to give Ben two easy 9/1 games. Paul raised his game in the fourth and built up a small lead with some good returns of serve. Ben retaliated and got to 8/6 match ball and then tinned an easy drop. Paul grabbed the opportunity and pulled it back to 8/8, then served for the game at 9/8, but Ben dug in, waited for Paul to go for risky winners and then hit the ball past him. So, 7/9 9/1 9/1 10/9 to Ben.
Richard Avery played his third successive game at the wrong time (without telling me - naughty, naughty!) against Granthan in the other plate semi final. Richard got off to a very slow start, and Granthan hit lots of nicks to build a 6/0 lead, but eventually Richard got going and started chasing down everything. His shot selection was really good, and he moved Granthan all over the court and even won three or four points with that most dreadful of all shots - the reverse angle! Richard took the first game 9/7, and took the second game easily as well. He started off the third game in similar fashion, but after getting a couple of points, the pace began to tell, and he stopped chasing everything down. Granthan took full advantage of this and fired in drops from all over the court and won that game and the next two. The score was 7/9 1/9 9/2 9/1 9/1 to Granthan.
Friday 27th April - Quarter Finals
Neil Healey (8) had the expected result against Paul Sewell (#1) - he lost! Anything he could do, Paul could do better. However, he gained a creditable six points.
Martyn Whiting (#4) played some excellent squash to go 1-0 up against Tom Bomford (#5). Tom started coming back strongly, and then Martyn's back locked, so he had to concede. Hopefully Martyn will be OK again after a hot bath and an overdose of Ibuprofen.
Kiffy had a 3-0 victory against a one-legged Chinny. Not that sour grapes come into it, but Chinny is now alleging 249 counts of rule infringement and unsporting behaviour on the part of Kiffy! The panel of judges will be reviewing the video evidence later and will probably do nothing!!
Paul Heneghan and Jimmy Harrison had the most entertaining game to date. This was always going to be close, as these two athletes are near the peak of their game. Jimmy was in stunning form - in fact some of his volleys where he jumped 10cm (that's four inches in old money) into the air left the crowd gasping, and the floor wilting in anticipation of his relanding. Despite Jimmy's airborne activities, Paul won the first two games, and started off well in the third until he missed a forehand boast that had been going really well for him up until then. Jimmy came back really strongly and took the third game 9/0, and then shot up to a 6/2 lead in the fourth and then tinned an easy drop. Paul changed the game and kept the ball high and at the back and this tactic gave him the fourth game 10/8 and an overall 3-1 win.
Richard Avery and Jonathon Bomford disappointed all the fans who turned up to see them play by playing in secret (despite all my emails asking people to let me know what was happening). I think Richard won 3-1. Scores?
Granthan Speake took advantage of a slow start from Steve Porter to go two games up before Steve had got going. The third game was a close affair with Granthan winning 10/8.
Wednesday 25th April
Matt had an enjoyable match against #1 Paul Sewell. As expected, Paul won this with ease, but not without making a great match of it. There were some great rallies, and Matt played several good winners, especially in the first game. In the end though, Paul's superior power, quality and experience meant he sailed through 9-1, 9-2, 9-0.
Mark Coppen must have played pretty well in his match against Brett (2). Brett won 9/4 5/9 9/4 9/6.
Friday 20th April - 1st Round
Lots of first-round matches tonight. No surprises with the top eight seeds going through.
Richard was the best loser, getting 14 points off Kiffy (#3) with some good attacking squash.
Jimmy was the worst loser with a single point to his credit. Martyn (#4) was in stunning form.
I could have vied with Jimmy for 'worst loser' award except for the fact that Tom Bomford (#5) decided not to play any winners and just run me round the court until I couldn't run any more - it was really very enjoyable in a masochistic sort of way!
Wednesday 18th April
Just done the draw. Please contact me if you have a problem with any of the scheduled times.