A New Dawn for Civil Service Squash - 2 New Champions! 2010 Singles

The county’s premier squash club which nestles in the shadows of Nottingham’s famous castle once again hosted the Civil Service Squash Singles Championship. It had attracted a record entry of players from all parts of the country and of all playing standards and was set to produce more than a few surprises.

Top player vie for the Men's title.

A graded event, the men were initially divided into 2 groups and then down to 4 grades to provide squash for all abilities. The top half saw a strong line-up of 16 players headed by last year’s champion Tim Burrell, the current Police champion, Tony Webb, and previous winners of this event, Marc Aldridge and John McFarlane. Hidden away in the draw was also the new name of HMRC’s James Hodson. It was McFarlane at the quarterfinal stage who was first given the opportunity to put the newcomer to the ‘sword’! A really impressive display of controlled squash however soon dispelled this possibility and Hodson powered his way past the ten times previous champion McFarlane for the loss of only 6 points! Champion Burrell, also in the same half of the draw, had to find his best form against the spirited Mark Bangs to move into the semi-final spot and test out Hodson for himself. Once again however the impressive control and mobility of Hodson was to prove too much and in a high calibre game Burrell had to concede his Crown at the semi-final stage losing 1-3. The lower half of the draw went more to form with both Marc Aldridge and Tony Webb safely progressing to meet each other in the semi-final. This excellent match of high quality squash saw the younger Webb finally overcome the experience of Aldridge and reach his first Civil Service Final. Expectation around the final was now high that the newcomer Hodson could take the title at his first attempt and after taking the first game 9-4 Hodson certainly looked on course to do so. Webb however never faltered in his determination to keep the ball in play and it was this factor that saw the tide eventually turn for him when taking a hard fought second game 9-6 he started to expose a ‘crack’ in Hodson’s game. Hodson began the third game well but soon began to look a tired player. Webb continued with his unceasing pressure and finally overcame his opponent’s challenge taking the next two games 9-0, 9-0 to win his first Civil Service title.

Men’s B, C and D Grade Events

Equally important as the Championship grade were the events for different standard players and these produced some fine competitive squash. In the Mens B event newcomer Freddie Milles (DSRA) took the crown without losing a game, defeating Dan Willets in their final. Players in the lower two grades of the mens entrants were initially combined with knock out matches to identify C and D grade players. This resulted in 9 players in the C grade, which was then played as a series of round robin groups, with Stephen Burnett emerging the overall winner over the “cssc-squash webmaster”, Mark Rylander. The D grade of 8 players saw some close matches with Simon Ho eventually winning the final against newcomer Paul Clarke 3-2.

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

Newcomers and new winners in the Ladies events

The Ladies had a good entry and it was encouraging to see several new faces. Divided into 2 groups of 5 they played each other in Round Robin formats. In the top group was 5 times (and current) Civil Service Champion, CSSC 2009 Sportswoman of the Year and England over 45 player, Heather Tweedle, together with CSSC team players Jackie Codman, Helen Midgley and Ruth Kneeshaw. Along with the ‘old guard’ a new name had also entered in the form of DECC’s Louise Clark, an ex-England junior player. Early matches saw Heather once again looking in excellent form defeating Ruth 3-0. Louise the ‘new kid on the block’ was first to be tested by Jackie and it soon became apparent that Louise had come with a determination to win, overcoming the spirited Jackie 3-0. This interestingly set up the ‘big match’ which could decide the outcome of the Ladies event at a somewhat earlier time than expected when champion Heather Tweedle went on court with the challenger Louise Clark. In a high quality and close game Louise always seemed to have the slight edge and took the match with a 3-0 score-line. Further surprises appeared on the following day when Heather sadly had to withdraw through illness which opened the door for Jackie to secure an excellent second place with fine wins over Ruth and Helen. Louise was not be denied the Civil Service Ladies Crown however on her first attempt when she continued her fine early form by defeating both these players in impressive style!

In the Ladies CD round robin, Angela Kennedy played consistently well, winning all her matches to take the number one slot. Cynthia Crane, taking on the challenging task of combining organising with playing, took second place whilst newcomer Susan Gillam, despite initial concerns, found she thoroughly enjoyed playing in what was her first ever tournament.

A list of prize winners appears below with full results available by clicking here.

Event organiser Linda Parsley presented prizes and trophies, commenting on the sportsmanship of players and the improved level of entries. She also thanked Nottingham Squash Club for their excellent hospitality and facilities. The Quiz organised by the Club for the players on the Friday evening had proved to be very popular and provided players with some quality relaxation to go alongside the excellent evening meal. A sports physiotherapist had attended the event on the Saturday and provided some important relief to aching joints and muscles. Feedback from the players had been encouraging with the friendly atmosphere alongside competitive spirit and excellent facilities being cited as key plus points.

The next CSSC Squash Event will be the team competition on 10th/11th February 2011 followed by the Age Group singles event on 8th/9th April, both at Nottingham. Please see our website (http://www.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 15/16th September 2011. Details for the Games can be found on the CSSC website (http://www.cssc.co.uk)

Here is the competition finishing positions: