A NEW CHAMPION FOR CSSC SQUASH

CSSC Squash were back in action in November 2023 at the Nottingham Squash Rackets Club (NSRC) for their National Singles tournament.

Regrettably only one lady entered the event, as a result of injury and other priorities, so the Ladies event was cancelled.

The men’s event, however, was well supported. 20 players entered with a range of standards. This enabled a combination of Knock Out and Round Robin events to be run, which provided good competition for all levels. For those who follow the England Squash ranking system, Squash Levels were from “unknown” to 11,000.

Among the entrants was the current 7 times CSSC Squash Champion, James Hodson, taking his place as the number one seed and aiming for an 8^th win. Looking to challenge him was a newcomer to CSSC Squash, Tom Trott, who slotted in as the number 2 seed.  These two were all set, if seeding was correct, to meet in the final.

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 of the event, injury and illness had reduced the men entrants from 20 players to 12.

The first round in the Knock Out resulted in the losing players dropping down to the B grade event. The successful first round 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 main A grade, James Hodson had a Bye and then won his first 2 matches against Chris Mason-Thom and Matthew Sampson to put himself into the final. Chris had previously beaten regular entrant Dan Willets and Paul Atkinson.

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In the other half of the draw, Frazer Richards had probably the hardest time on court with a 3-1 win over last year’s finalist, Craig Webb, followed by a 3-2 loss to newcomer Tom Trott.

Losers in the first round of the A grade event went into a B Grade event, initially intended to be a Knock out format, but numbers determined that a Round Robin format would be a better option. Here Dan was joined by seasoned Squash player Collis Sheik and newcomers Nigel Jubbs and Kevin Walters. This was tough group with many of the matches going to 5 games. Dan won the group with just one game loss to Nigel while Kevin Walters took the Runner Up slot.

Losers from the Main A Grade 2^nd round then played a Plate event. The four eligible players were reduced to three with the retirement of one member, so a Round Robin was played. This resulted in Andrew Symmons taking the A Plate title, beating both Chris and Paul, with Chris taking the Runner Up prize.

The CSSC Squash section took the opportunity of the presence of regular players to hold their AGM in the Saturday lunch break. This was followed by the final match of the main A grade event between James Hodson and Tom Trott. This final was a stunning match with both players playing incredibly tight shots and making amazing retrievals from every corner of the court.

The outcome was in doubt right up to the last rally – narrow margins. Well played to both players and we have a new champion in Tom.

It was good to see some new players and we hope all were able to enjoy the experience of playing and marking different people. We hope to see them in other events.

The squash matches were spread over the two days, Friday and Saturday and, as usual, a light hearted 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.

Final placings:

Men's Champion Tom Trott receiving his trophy from event organiser Linda Parsley                                  Runner Up James Hodson receiving his prize from Linda Parsley

James and Tom with B Grade winner Dan Willets

The next event in the CSSC Squash calendar will be the Team Tournament in February/March 2024. Teams are to consist of both male and female players and can represent a department, office or any group. Individual players who cannot raise a team should contact the organise Peter Lee (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 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 the Masters (Age Groups) and Racketball Tournaments will be held in April/May 2024. Location to be advised.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

See you all in 2024

At the annual Squash Single tournament played on 17th/18th November played at the Nottingham Squash centre, a new Champion emerged in Thomas Trott. This was the first CSSC tournament Tom has entered and he beat reigning champion (and 8 times winner) James Hodson in a thrilling final.

More detailed report to follow along with photos from the tournament.

CSSC Quadrangular 2023 – 1-2 September 2023.

With last year’s event cancelled the Civil Service were very pleased to resume their annual fixture against the Police Force, Fire Service and UK Armed Forces. The CSSC men’s team travelled to Edgbaston Priory and it was good to have a few new faces in the team with some young(er) players joining the old stalwarts. The team featured new players Joe Shill, Craig Webb and Ben Mann joining James Hodson, Tim Burrell and Ethan Thornton.

CSSC vs Police Force

The first match was against the Police who had won the event for the past few years, and are always well stocked with good players. This year was no different and the CSSC team knew they had a tough task. First on were Ethan Thornton (5) and Craig Webb (4). Ethan never really hitting his stride was taken out by his talented opponent. Craig put up a good fight and after settling into the match almost took the 3^rd game. It was all too late and Craig also went down 3-0. Looking to get CSSC back on track were Ben Mann (3) And Tim Burrell (2). Ben lost 3-0, a score line that didn’t reflect how close the match was. With Tim losing the first game it was looking like his match would follow suit but he managed to take the next 2 games and sneak over the line in the 4^th to take a 3-1 win. Finally CSSC had some points on the board. Last on was James Hodson (1). Much like the previous matches James put up a good fight but couldn’t quite squeeze a game from his opponent, going down in a close 3-0 match.

A 4-1 loss to the Police Force with 2 matches left to play.

CSSC vs Fire Service

Having suffered a brutal defeat earlier the CSSC team were looking to get back on track. Joe Shill came in at number 5 and immediately got the team off to a winning start, comfortably seeing off his opponent with some determined running and skilful shots. Craig Webb and Ben Mann continued the teams winning ways with Craig running out a 3-0 winner and Ben, having suffered a little wobble to drop the 3^rd game, came out on the right end of a 3-1 win. That meant CSSC had won the match, all that was left was for James and Tim to play the remaining matches. Tim managed a close 3-0 win while James had a real tussle at the number 1 string. James lost the first only to draw level at 1-1. A close loss in the 3^rd was followed by a comfortable win in the 4^th from James to take the game to 2-2. With nothing between the players as they each traded points it was only at the very end of the game where the Fire Service player just edged ahead with some canny winners to take the game 11-8, and match 3-2.

A 4-1 win for the CSSC.

CSSC vs UK Armed Services

With a win and a loss CSSC were looking to win their last match while hoping the Police Force would slip up against the Fire Service. First on were Joe and Craig. Joe started slow but after just about winning the first took control of the match to win 3-0. Craig had a very tough match but managed to keep his nose ahead throughout, winning 3-0 in a very close encounter. With Ben also winning 3-0 each of the debutants had an excellent couple of days. Last on were Tim and James looking to wrap up the win, which they duly did - each winning 3-0.

A 5-0 win for CSSC but not enough to catch the Police who, having won all 3 matches, were once again crowned champions. CSSC came a very creditable 2^nd with the UK Armed Services in 3^rd and Fire Service in 4^th.

Final scores:

Police force: 58

CSSC: 42

UK Armed Forces: 21

Fire Service: 8

The CSSRA will be holding their AGM at 1pm on Saturday 18th November 2023 at the Nottingham Squash and Rackets Club NG7 1BX  (if you are entering the CSSC Open Singles competition you will be able to attend anyway!!)

All CSSC members are welcome to attend, give their view on Squash in CSSC and/or volunteer.

Linda Parsley

The 2023 CSSC Squash Singles Tournament will be held at Nottingham, Squash Club on Friday 17th/Saturday 18th November 2023.

This is a Graded National event for which CSSC members can claim financial assistance through the CSSC National Travel Policy.

Start time will be 12:00 on Friday 17th, concluding on Saturday 18th afternoon. All entrants will have a minimum of 3 matches.

Accommodation is readily available in Nottingham. The Squash Club has an arrangement with St James Hotel, which is in walking distance from the club. A crash pad for single occupancy costs £70 B&B at the Squash Club Rate. Tel No 0115 941 1114.

Lunches will be provided and a social evening with supper will be held on the Friday evening at the club.

We will also have the use of a physio on the Saturday.

Just over a year has passed since the first match between the Civil Service and GB Vets took place and here we were, back in Nottingham for the rematch. This time we were joined by a team from the Fire Service, keen to join the party. We had booked the four main courts at Nottingham (7-10) all the way from 12 noon until 6pm. This may have seemed a bit conservative on first glance but some cracking matches meant that a full day of court time was almost completely used.

GB Vets vs Civil Service

With four courts in action it really was a case of dipping in and out but in the first round of matches :

(2) John Simpson was too strong for an injured Craig Webb (pulled adductor, first injury of the day) who had to drop out afterwards. 3-0 to John.

(3) John Parkes just seems to get fitter and faster with age. Anyone who plays him is in for a tough examination and Marc Aldridge was no exception with John coming through 3-1

(5) On a really hot court 10, Peter Lonsdale was made to work hard against the willing running of Joe Shills. Joe is really fit and that brought him through against Pete in a hard, sweat inducing 3-1

(6) Rob Reid raced away from Ethan Thornton in the first game with very controlled accurate placement of the ball only for the complete reverse in the second game with Ethan dominating the court. Rob regained the upper hand in the next two for a comfortable 3-1 win

So 3-1 to the vets and the second matches on.

(1) Nick Hargreaves and Tim Burrell put on some show. Both players chasing down the ball time after time with great shot making and retrieval. Tim came through for the Civil Service but it looked as though the effort had taken a lot out of him with the next match following on soon. 3-0 to Civil Service

(4) Chris Mason-Thom is a tall rangy player who covers the court really well and looks to extend rallies. This set up a good test against the hard attacking squash that Ray epitomises. Chris did work incredibly hard and a 0-3 result doesn’t reflect how much he put into the match. 3-0 to GB Vets.

(7) Nick Sheppard and Dan willets played the same match last year. That time Dan had a torn rotator and couldn’t play anything high. This time Nick came into the match nursing a back strain and with more than limited mobility. Nick took the first game but a bumping together at the start of the second aggravated his back strain (Nick withdrew after the match, second injury of the day). Despite pushing in the third, Dan was able to run out to a 3-1 win for the Civil Service.

So after almost exactly two hours play we had the first match result, a 4-3 win for the GB Vets

Civil Service vs Fire Service

(1) Neil Cross had a long drive from Colchester in the morning and it seemed to have had an effect as he made an uncharacteristic number of errors in going down to Tim Burrell, rallying for his second win – two impressive matches from Tim. 3-1 to Civil Service

(2) Travis Tatum travelled up from  Colchester with Neil and seemed to have the same car legs at the start of his match with plenty of unforced errors against Marc Aldridge. From then on Travis rallied and showed what a capable and graceful player he is with languid unhurried movement around the court and some wicked wristy angles on shots. 3-2 to Fire Service

(3) Mike Plant is a tall and very fit athlete with a long reach, very similar in fact to Chris! The difference between the two on the day was the work Chris had already put into his match earlier and with both players able to retrieve the ball consistently it was that tiredness that gave Mike the edge. Chris made a valiant effort to hold on in the third but to no avail. 3-0 to Fire Service

(4) If we could hook Joe Shills up to the national grid we wouldn’t need to worry about power generation in this country ever again. Fresh from a hard match with Peter Lonsdale, Joe was back on court to face Ross Bingham another player whose game is based on fitness. In so many respects an evenly matched pair but it was Joe who came back from narrowly losing the first two game to win the match while Ross then withdrew injured (third injury of the day). 3-2 to Civil Service.

(5) With Craig Webb dropping out, Peter Lonsdale volunteered to fill in for the Civil Service with his opponent, Steve, agreeing the make their match a double header for the Vets vs Fire Service which was due to follow. Another long match with Peter eventually taking the win. 3-2 to Civil Service

(6) Ethan had recovered from his experience against Rob Reid and was able to show off his normal level of racket skill in beating Shaun Cramer. 3-0 to Civil Service

(7) Karl Mullins must be well over 6 ½ feet tall with a reach to match. Karl also normally plays racketball and his shot choices favoured a lot of Australian boasts and other angles with not a lot hit straight. Dan had enough control to stay in front and take the match but admitted afterwards he was more than a bit confused by where the ball was going. 3-1 to Civil Service.

Again almost exactly two hours play and a 5-2 win to the Civil Service but some hard matches within that.

GB Vets vs Fire Service

(1) Neil continued to look a bit out of sorts against a really in form Nick Hargreaves and although he took the first game it always looked like Nick was the stronger player on the day. 3-1 to GB Vets

(2) Travis had definitely shaken off the car journey but John was just too quick and accurate to be wrong footed by Travis wristy shots. 3-0 to GB Vets

(3) So if you have played two hard matches in four hours do you really want the next to be against a rested John Parkes? Joe showed amazing stamina to come out and play hard again and kept the match tight against John who had just enough experience to see him home. 3-1 to GB Vets.

(4) Despite a hard fought win from Ray, Mike and Ray had enough in the tank to stay on and play each other again straight after. 3-2 to GB Vets.

(5) This was played earlier during the Civil Service vs Fire Service

(6) Rob Reid again showed accurate length and line hitting, putting the ball in difficult places for Shaun to get it back from. A well controlled win for Rob. 3-0 to GB Vets

(7) With Nick withdrawing, Peter Lonsdale stepped in to play Karl in what was a very dead rubber. As Peter joined in the racketball shots and eschewed drops it made for a very entertaining and close match, much to the hilarity of Karls sons who were trying to get embarrassing video clips of his rallies from the balcony.

So, final result 7-0 to the GB Vets but yet again there were some great 3-2 matches in there.

Unfortunately, the threat of rail strikes meant that most players were keen to get home on the Saturday rather than stay over for a night investigating the bars of Nottingham like last year so pizzas and drinks were taken at NSRC before everyone made their ways home. Many thanks go to NSRC for again hosting this event. It is clear they are struggling through some difficult times and we all wish them the best of luck and hope they can come through it intact and viable. Also big thanks to the other captains, Nick Shepherd and Neil Cross for bringing out players who really got into the spirit of the day and made it all thoroughly enjoyable. I would like to thank all the Civil Servants who came out to play. A date is being arranged for next year and there is interest from a fourth team in joining in.

The CSSC National Team Squash Event has once again returned to the popular Nottingham Squash Club which is now under new management. This year six teams entered with HASSRA once again fielding a strong line up of three teams in an attempt to retain the Title they had won last year. Last year’s runners-up North West however had arrived with a strengthened Team in the form of a new number one player Craig Webb and had plans of their own to steal the Title away from HASSRA. The remaining two teams saw the long-awaited return of DSTL together with a new Team “Spare Rackets”, Captained by our CSSRA President Marian Holmes. The Event was run on a Round-Robin basis of three teams formed into two separate groups giving all players two games to play on the Friday. On the Saturday the Winners of Group A would play the Runners-up from Group B and similarly winners of Group B would play the Runners-up of Group A. The winners of these matches would face each other in the Final whilst the two losers would play each other for third place. The two teams placed third in Friday’s games would face each other in a play-off for the Plate Trophy.

In Group A the opening matches saw HASSRA A play their C Team which despite Mickey Gallagher, Jim Fay, Jo Jones and Rob Frame’s valiant efforts went predictably to the A Team with a 5-0 result. HASSRA C’s next match against DSTL was a more hard-fought affair but ended with a similar 5-0 match score line against the in-form DSTL’s Stu Scourfield, Ian Frampton, Kevin Walters, and Carol Stone. DSTL’s success against the HASSRA C Team however was never going to be enough against the HASSRA A’s strong line-up, although Ian, Kevin and Carol did all pick points before going down to a 3-1 score line. The overall match result was another 5-0 to the HASSRA A Team.

In Group B the opening match between HASSRA B and Spare Rackets was a hard-fought affair, the standout game being between the second-string players which saw Spare Rackets’s Craig Blurton edge past HASSRA’s Chris Rowsbury in a thrilling five game match. Further wins by Joe Shill and James Dand secured their Team’s overall win 3-2. Spare Rackets then had to face last year’s Runners Up Northwest. Spare Rackets’s earlier taste of success was soon to be dampened when they went down to a hard fought 5-0 score line. The final match between North West and HASSRA B produced another 5-0 score line for the Northerners, although HASSRA’s Carol Whittington nearly chalked up a win for her Team when eventually only losing in a superb match 9-11 in the fifth game to Shena Ferrie.

Saturday’s first semi-final saw HASSRA A play Spare Rackets. This proved to be an uphill battle for the Rackets Team who went down 5-0. Rackets Team Captain, Marian Holmes however did put up some excellent opposition to HASSRA’s Ruth Sleigh eventually losing 3-1. The second semi-final between North West and DSTL was a hard fought match which produced a 4-1 victory for North West to progress into yet another Final. DSTL’s Ian Frampton was their only winner against Dan Willets whilst DSTL’s number one player Stuart Scourfield did also put up some spirited opposition against North West’s Craig Webb before losing 3-1.

The final between HASSRA A and North West saw the two strongest players in the Tournament face each other.  North West’s Craig Webb got his Team off to an excellent start by taking the first game 11- 6 against James Earles who is currently ranked 40 in the England Squash rankings. That success was however turned around when the next three hard fought games went to the HASSRA player. This pattern was repeated when both Jonathan Simpson and Imran Bashir produced excellent wins against Dan Willetts and Paul Lane. North West’s Shena Ferrie had a close match against Ruth Sleigh eventually going down 3-1 whilst HASSRA’s ever reliable Sian Hughes chalked up another win against Deb Atkinson to retain HASSRA A’s Title with a 5-0 match score line. HASSRA B continued to highlight HASSRA’s overall success story by defeating HASSRA C in the Plate Final. In the third and fourth playoff DSTL defeated Spare Rackets 3-1.

Congratulations once again go to HASSRA and their Team Captain Sian Hughes for assembling such strong line ups to win both the Main Event and the Plate Competition. A special thanks goes to all the players who participated and in particular to James Earles’s first outing in a CSSC Squash Event - he is bound to add strength to our National CSSC Squash Team. Thanks also to Nottingham Squash Rackets Club for both hosting our Event and for providing their support. Thanks to Linda Parsley for once again running the Friday Evening Quiz and to Jackie Codman for her help in running this Event. The prizes were presented by the CSSRA President Marian Holmes.

The next CSSC Squash Event will be the National Squash Masters and Racketball Open Competitions on the 19^th and 20^th May 2023 at Nottingham Squash Rackets Club.

       Top Left:Marian Holmes presenting the winners trophy to HASSRA's captain Sian Hughes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Top Right:HASSRA A's winning team: Imran Bashir, Ruth Sleigh, Sian Hughes, Jonathan Simpson & James Earles                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Bottom Left:North West Runners Up Team; Deb Atkinson, Craig Webb, Paul Lane, Dan Willets & Sheena Ferrie                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Bottom Right:HASSRA B Plate winners: Chris Rowsby, Michelle Hodds, Carol Whittington, Peter Fielding (Marion Holmes) centre   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                          

                 2023 Players and Organisers                           

On Saturday 8th July the CSSC Squash team are playing a friendly fixture against the 'Veterans of Great Britain' and Fire Service at Nottingham Squash Centre.

This is an open event available to all CSSC members.

We are hoping to have a team of around 10 players for 2 friendly matches - all standards are welcome to come and play.

Matches will start at 12pm and be followed by food at the club.

If you would like more information or are interested in playing, please contact Tim Burrell (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Nottingham Squash Club was once again the venue for the 2023 CSSC Squash Masters Singles Championships and the CSSC Squash 57 (Racketball) Championships. A favoured venue for many CSSC squash events in the past, the club is now run by volunteers who gave up their time to provide a warm and friendly welcome to the players and guests.

We were pleased to welcome a number of new players to the events. Most notably in the Racketball where for a few of the players it was their first experience of having a referee controlling their matches.  

Squash

The men's O45 age group played in a small round robin group with the men's O55s and O65s combining in a similar larger group. Each competition was hard fought and played in the usual sporting and friendly manner. With numbers being slightly down for the O45's the format was changed from previous events with a best of 5 being introduced thus ensuring that entrants had more time on court. As at previous events the players assisted with marking and refereeing duties to ensure that nearly all the matches were clearly recorded.

The organisers would once again like to thank the competitors for helping to mark matches and, for their patience and good-natured acceptance of the inevitable last minute changes to the playing schedule that the cancellations necessitated.  We would also like to thank the experienced players for making the newcomers to the tournament feel so welcome.

 Mens O45

This year, the trophy went to Craig Webb a welcome first timer at the CSSC Squash Masters. The runner up was John McFarlane, a former regular at the singles and team events and last year's winner of this event.  The awards were presented by co-organiser and quizmaster Linda Parsley.

Mens O55

Ian Frampton a three times former winner of the Racketball
event and former winner in the O45 Squash category.  Ian has worked
his way through all the categories! 
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Runner-up and a former winner in the O45 category, Geoff Watson receiving his runner-up trophy
from co-organiser Linda Parsley

Mens O65

Collis Sheik a previous winner of the O55s claiming the O65
trophy at his first attempt in this category receiving
his winners trophy.  Presented by Pip Northam CSSC Events
Team (Head Office)

Runner-up in this competition was last year's winner
Peter Fielding.

Squash 57 (Racketball)   

As with the Squash Championships this event was played as a round-robin with 8 players taking part in the one day event.
The players were kept busy on court, with the timed schedule allowing them to take sufficient/ adequate rest breaks between matches/rounds.

 
Neil Moore played solidly to emerge as the 2023 Squash 57
(Racketball) Champion, improving on his runner-up trophy in 2022.
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Fred Sanders playing in his usual controlled style emerged as
runner-up in a very competitive competition.                                         

Social

All in all a very busy two days for the organisers and, in addition to the friendly battles on court, a very pleasant supper was served at the club. Two teams were formed from the players attending the Friday evening supper and they battled it out in the infamous and much anticipated Linda Parsley General Knowledge Quiz, accompanied by the requisite amount of friendly banter. Feedback from the group indicated that competitors had a busy and enjoyable experience, endorsing as ever, the equally important social element of this event. Lunch on Friday and Saturday was provided in the form of a cold buffet to allow players to watch the matches whilst eating if they wished. We were pleased that so many players remained after their games had finished to watch the final matches and trophy presentation.

As ever, although numbers were low this year due to cancellations resulting from sports injuries and illness, the event provided an opportunity for players to combine fitness and fun and to catch up with friends and make new ones.

Results Table