2019 Civil Service Squash Singles Championships

The eagerly awaited annual CSSC National Graded Squash Singles took place at the Nottingham Squash Club on 22nd/23rd November 2019. As in previous years there was a high level of entry and the friendly Nottingham club provided excellent facilities.

There was a wide variety of squash players from all over the country and, as a graded event, there was a range of competitions for all levels. The top grade was a very high standard, while the lower grades enjoyed a friendly yet equally competitive two days of squash. 24 men and 10 ladies entered and again it was good to see several newcomers. The popular event T-shirts were provided to give a swathe of yellow this year on court.

The number of lady entries dropped slightly as two new players had to drop out through injury. However the quality of the squash and level of enthusiasm was excellent. The Ladies Competition was split into 2 grades, A/B and C/D, both being held as Round-Robin events. Unfortunately, in both the groups one of the players suffered a slight injury in their first match and had to withdraw. The remaining players carried on in slightly smaller groups. In the top group no-one could match the skill and experience of the current holder, Becky Campbell and she was able to retain the title for the 5^th time. Regrettably for us, Becky is going on an overseas posting for a few years, so we won’t see her next year to defend the title.

The Ladies C/D event was also held as a Round-Robin and after some hard fought matches Carol Whittington emerged as a first time winner beating Debs Atkinson into 2^nd place.

The standard of entries for the top grade of the men’s event matched previous years with a full 16-man draw for A and B grade players combined. This was run as a knock-out competition with several Plate competitions held to keep all players on court after each round. With past Champion, James Hodson, still recovering from injury could CSSC men’s captain, Tim Burrell, regain the trophy?. Tim reached the final after losing just one game to each of Neil Miles and Chris Mason-Thom to face Frazer Richards. Frazer’s route to the final included a hard-fought tight match against previous Champion Marc Aldridge, who had knocked Frazer out of the event last year. The final was a tough match with Tim using his superior shot-making and controlled squash to ensure Frazer was doing the majority of the work. Frazer, running down every ball, slowly managed to dominate and attack a little more in the 4th game, enabling him to close out the match 3games to 1. Congratulations to Frazer who becomes a new name on the 88 year old trophy.

The A grade Plate was run as a knock out with John Perry emerging the winner over Neil Miles, after having been pushed earlier to 4 games by both Joel Gould and Neil.

The B grade event was an 8 player knock out for losers of the first round of the A/B event. Dave Nethercott came through the top half of the draw losing just one game to Paul Lane, while newcomer Shaun Goodman came through the bottom half to the final without loss. A hard fought final ensued with Dave managing to hold off the challenge from Shaun with a 3-1 win.

The B grade Plate was played as a Round Robin of 3 players with Paul Lane emerging the winner, though not until he had fought off a strong challenge from John Cooper. John came back from 2-0 down to equal the match but Paul came back to take the 5^th.

Six players initially entered the C/D event, reduced to five by the start of the competition, so a Round Robin format was used. The level of energy shown by this group was outstanding with players competitive and well matched staying on court for long periods!. Notable was the battle for the C Grade title between Rob Frame (last years C Grade runner up) and Ben Young (CSSC Games runner up). Rob took the first 2 games by the closest of margins, whereupon Ben took the 3^rd by an equally close margin. The 4^th game was a hard tussle which went to the wire with Rob just managing to seal it and the win. Congratulations, Rob – better luck next time, Ben.

The D grade competition was contained within the C/D Round Robin and saw some equally energetic matches played. Trevor Laley (CSSC Games Handicap winner) emerged the winner of this Grade after a deciding match against CSSRA Treasurer Jim Fay. Newcomer Tom Dodd put up a strong challenge against all the other players in this C/D group taking a game off both Grade winners, Rob and Trevor. Hopefully we will see Tom back next year.

The customary social evening was held at the club on the Friday evening to relax everyone after a hard day’s squash. The club provided supper and organiser Linda ran a light hearted quiz. This, as always, has found to be a great way to relax and bring people together after some strenuous exercise. It was mentioned by many of the players as a highlight which together with the friendly atmosphere, and the chance to meet and play new players and old friends contributed to their enjoyment of the event. The sports massage therapist available on the Saturday to attend to tired bodies and muscles was again much appreciated by the players.

Presentations were made after the excellent men’s final by CSSRA President, Marian Holmes, who had played in the tournament herself. She thanked the Squash Club for their hospitality and Linda and Ian Lockey for their effective organisation. Finally, she thanked all the players for their excellent attitude that helped to make this such a friendly but competitive occasion.

The CSSRA held its AGM on the Saturday, which enabled players to comment and discuss relevant issues around CSSC squash events and ideas for improvements. One issue raised was the use of Squash Levels and whether CSSC squash tournament results should be fed into the Squash Levels system. As always, new volunteers were invited to join the organisers and/or committee.

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