CSSC NATIONAL SINGLES CLOCKS UP ANOTHER SUCCESS

CSSC Squash, back on the road after lockdown, followed its 2021 National Singles event with an equally successful one in November 2022, held again at the Nottingham Squash Club.

Despite the current mens and ladies captains and several of the top players being absent, an impressive cast of 22 men and 5 ladies were anticipated at the club on Friday 18^th November, ready to do battle on the court. This included the current 7 times Champion, James Hodson, as number one seed. Along with many of the regular top CSSC players an encouraging number of newcomers had entered, and there were players across all grades A to E.   Unfortunately, by the start, injury and illness had reduced the men players to 19.

Three competitions were held – Ladies, Mens combined A,B,C grades and Mens D,E grades. These started on Friday lunchtime and continued through to the finals on Saturday afternoon.

The Ladies event was held as a Round Robin with all players playing each other. After a number of hard fought and close matches, newcomer Kristy Watson came through the winner, with Shena Rolfe runner up. A new name on the Ladies Trophy.  

The Mens ABC group started with 14 players and was played as a knock-out event. The first round resulted in the losing players dropping down to the B grade event. The successful A grade players played a further series of knock out matches with the next round losers going into the A Plate event.

In the top half of the A grade, John Perry and Chris Mason-Thom both won their first round matches, against Paul Clarke and David Nethercott 3-0. The match between John and Chris was a very close match which Chris won 3-2, putting him into the semi final. There he met 7 times champion James Hodson who had already beaten newcomer Harry Parker. James wasn’t going to be stopped in his quest for an 8^th title and he overcame Chris 3-0.

In the other half of the draw, seasoned CSSC players Jonathan Simpson and John McFarlane, both came through the first round against Neil Ward and Tom Littleton. Jonathan then had too much for ex-Champion John, winning their match 3-0. Number 2 seed Craig Webb, a losing semi-finalist last year, reached the final by beating both Paul Lane and Jonathan 3-0. Craig then faced James Hodson and despite a good effort was not able to take the title away from James. Eight in a row now for James!! Can he reach John McFarlane’s total of 10?

Losers in the second round of the A grade event went into a Plate competition. The four eligible players were reduced to three with the retirement of one member, so a Round Robin was played. This resulted in John Perry taking the A Plate title, beating both Paul Lane and Harry Parker.

            The BC grade for losers in the first round consisted of five players and was planned as a knockout. However, with just three players to compete in the 2^nd round, it was decided to change to a round robin format.  This saw some tough matches especially between David Nethercott and Tom Littleton with David’s 3-2 win over Tom giving him the B grade title.  The losers from the B group went into a C grade event. Unfortunately, one of the players left early giving Paul Clarke a walkover to the C grade title.

The men’s DE grade consisted of six players so two Round Robin groups of three players were initially played.  In the first group Louis Cowling beat both his opponents to take first place, with Adam Jellett in 2^nd place. In the second group Tom Dodd also beat all opponents with Jay Pollard runner up. The winners and runners up of these two groups then played each other in knock out format while the 3rd place played each other for the Plate.

After some exhausting matches, Tom Dodd succeeded in winning the DE group without losing a game. The Plate was won by Gary Butler. All the players in this grade had some hard fought matches. Some may not have been used to this level of play or intensity of games but hopefully were able to enjoy the experience of playing and marking different people and be able to take something away for the future. We hope to see them in other events.

The squash matches were spread over the two days, Friday and Saturday and, as usual, a lighthearted Quiz was held at the club on Friday evening with the club providing supper, giving players and organisers a chance to relax.  All in all it was a very successful event –a lot of good squash played in a good spirit.

Ladies Champion - Kristy Watson receiving her trophy from CSSRA Chairman Sian Hughes	Mens Champion - James Hodson receiving his trophy from CSSRA Chairman Sian Hughes	Craig Webb - A Runner Up
John Perry - A Plate Winner	David Netherton - B Winner	Tom Dodd - D Winner
Gary Butler - D Plate Winner	Shena Rolfe - Ladies Runner Up

Final placings

The next event in the CSSC Squash calendar will be the CSSC Squash Team Tournament at the Nottingham Club on Friday/Saturday February 3^rd/4th 2023. Teams are to consist of 5 players of which at least 2 must be female. Players may enter a team from a department, office or just a group of friends. Individual players who cannot raise a team should contact the organiser Peter Lee (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – 07715 452 434), who will try and allocate players to a team.  Ladies especially welcome. Information and entry details will be on the CSSC website, under “Squash”.

Following this will be the Masters (Age Groups) and Racketball Tournaments will be held on 19/20th May 2023