Squash Singles 2012: New Champions for CSSC Squash

The Nottingham Squash Club was once again the venue for the National Civil Service Squash Singles Championship. Held in November 2012, it attracted players from all over the country and of all playing standards for a graded event which was both competitive and social in nature.

Strong competition for the Mens title.

To provide a suitable level of squash for all abilities, the men’s competition consisted of 5 grades. In the top group, last year’s Champion Tim Burrell headed a strong line-up of 16 players. The first round saw the strongest contenders move into the A grade while the losers headed to the B grade competition.

Progressing to the semi finals Tim looked impressive but so did the other seeded players, James Hodson, John Ashton and CSSC Men’s Captain Merv Davies. Both the semi finals were strongly contended but Tim and no. 2 seed, James came through to set up a second attempt by James to win the title, having been in this position two years ago when he lost a tough match to Tony Webb. Interest was high and the gallery was packed for the final. Playing the PARS point a rally system, long rallies and tough points were the norm with both players jockeying for the gap that would enable a point to be scored. In the first 2 games James seemed to have his nose just in front and took them 11-9 and 11-8. Tim then made a come-back in decisive form with an 11-2 game and raised the hopes of the spectators again for a thrilling match. In a tight 4th game, they were neck and neck on points and Tim had game ball at 10-9 before James regained control, taking the next 3 points for a 12-10 game and match win. Congratulations to James for a well earned first win of the title.

Mens B, C, D and E Grade Events

Just as hard fought as the Championship grade were the events for different standard players and these produced some excellent squash. In the Mens B event Peter Windram, CSSC Veteran (Over 45) Champion, who upgraded from the C grade reached the semi final to fall to the eventual winner Phillip Crane. In the other half of the draw, newcomer Mark Cullington had the harder route to the final with a 5 setter against James Partington and then a 4 setter against Phill in the final. Tony Claydon brushed off his recent knee operation to beat Peter 3-1 in the 3rd/4th playoff.

Players in the C and D grades of the men’s entrants were initially combined with knock out matches to identify C and D grade players. Following a series of drop outs through injury, this resulted in 7 players in the C grade and 4 in the D grade. Playing the normal scoring system to 9 points, the C grade played a knock-out format with Fred Sanders, the CSSC Vintage (Over 55) Champion, coming up against Paul Lane in the final. Paul, runner-up in the 2011 C grade event played a strong match to take the title this year 3-0.

The D grade was played as a Round Robin group, with Chris Johnstone beating all other contenders though Rob Shepherd put up a tough fight with a 5 setter.

For the first time there were five entries for the E grade, sufficient for a separate event. On the day this was reduced to four players who played a Round Robin group. After some hard fought matches newcomer Robin Jennings emerged the winner over Keith Hayes.

Plate events were run in all the grades keeping everyone busy on court both days.

Newcomers and new winners in the Ladies events

In the Ladies it was encouraging to see several new faces and especially a linked member – our first!. Unfortunately our strongest ladies, including last year’s Champion, were unable to play but this did not detract from the competition giving others the chance to contend the titles.

Divided into 2 groups they played each other in Round Robin formats. In the top group were 2 of the regular team CSSC Ladies team members, Keeley Grindle and Ruth Kneeshaw together with newcomer and linked member Linda Lyons. After some hard fought matches, Keeley emerged the new Champion with 3-1 wins over the other 2 ladies, with Ruth taking 2nd place.

In the Ladies CD Round Robin, Cynthia Crane won all her matches to take the number one spot, with Deborah Atkinson taking second place. It was encouraging to see newcomer Danielle Smith, previously seen at the courts as a supporter, donning her kit and playing herself. She was not disappointed, enjoying a win and gaining valuable experience against different players.

An additional event was squeezed into the Saturday with a delayed 2012 Veterans (Over 40) Ladies event which it had been unable to play earlier in the year. Eligible players from both ladies groups played in a Round Robin, which resulted in Ruth Kneeshaw taking the title with Linda Lyons runner up.

The newly elected CSSC Squash President Marian Holmes presented prizes and trophies. Event organiser Linda Parsley thanked Nottingham Squash Club for their excellent hospitality and facilities and the players for their sportsmanship. The Quiz on the Friday evening had proved to be very popular and provided players with the opportunity to relax after a day’s activity. Feedback from the players was encouraging with the friendly atmosphere alongside competitive spirit, good squash and excellent facilities being cited as key elements to players enjoyment.

The next CSSC Squash event will be the team competition on 31st January/1st February 2013 followed by the Age Group Singles event (which will include Racketball) on 26th/27th April, both at Nottingham. Please see our website (cssc-squash.co.uk) for further details and entry forms.

Next year’s Single Event will be held as part of the CSSC Multi-Sport Games in Loughborough on 12/13th September 2013. Details for the Games can be found on the CSSC website (www.cssc.co.uk)

Photos from the event can be found in our Photo Gallery.

Final Standings