Tom Elton Barratt Tournament Results |
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| Tournament Report This year’s event is the smallest entry on record and unfortunately the first tournament on record without a girls competition due to lack of numbers, injuries etc. I would welcome any feedback or ideas from you so that I can try and attract more entrants next year. This tournament was born over 20 years ago in memory of Tom, a top junior player at Bishop’s Stortford Squash Club who tragically died. His mother and father always attend the event and are always very impressed by the quality of play and manners of the competitors. In the Boys Under 19's number 2 seed Scott Gledhill (from Kingswood Club, Basildon, Essex) showed how much he has improved over the past year winning tough matches in the semi-final against Will Newnham (Sussex) 9-6 9-4 8-10 10-8 and then beating surprise finalist Jonathan Fuller (Gosling, Welwyn Garden City, Herts) who had earlier overcome number 1 seed Luke Gray (Romford YMCA, Essex) in their semi-final 9-6 9-1 5-9 9-7. In the Final Scott won the first two games against Jonathan 9-1 9-5 quite easily using good length shots to the back, dominating the T and working his opponent around the court, Jonathan staged a comeback in the third game winning it 9-2 by playing some excellent kill shots and by retrieving the ball well, however Scott got back into the groove in the fourth game and after a serious of tough exchanges at 3-2 Scott went on to take the game 9-3 and the title 3-1 in 48 minutes. The Boys Under 19 Plate was won by Chris Sherman (Connaught Club, Essex) who beat Elliot Selby (Lexden, Colchester, Essex) 9-3 9-4 9-2 in 26 minutes. Bishop's Stortford's top junior player Oliver Dixon was number 1 seed in the Boys Under 17 category, he progressed comfortably to the semi-finals where he faced Michael Duke (Connaught Club, Essex), Michael had impressively beaten number 4 seed Matthew Muckell (Kingswood Club, Essex) in the quarter-finals 9-5 9-6 10-8 and looked like he was going to trouble Oliver, in their semi-final Oliver won the first two games relatively easily with Michael's attacking shots hitting the tin, but he rallied in the third using his hard hitting tactics to upset the Stortford player, Oliver held on to take the game 9-6 and the match 3-0 in 30 minutes. In the bottom half of the draw the much improved Richard Norton (Kingswood Club, Essex) and number 2 seed played steadily despatching Daniel Matthews (Maldon, Essex) 3-0 in the quarter-finals and Adam Rodwell (Berkshire) 3-0 in their semi-final. In the Final, both players started nervously exchanging points until 4-4 when suddenly Oliver powered ahead to win the game 9-4, the second game was alot tougher, by now, Richard was into his stride and went into a 7-5 and 8-6 lead using precision drop shots and excellent court coverage, Oliver looked tired but dug in and played his way back by raising the pace of the game and hitting crisp cross court drives to the back of the court to come back and win the game 10-8, in the third game Oliver raced into an early lead but this time it was Richard's turn to dig in and kept his opponent working with good shots to each corner of the court but Oliver was not to be denied on his home courts securing victory with a forehand volley smash into the front corner of the court to win the game 9-5 and the match 3-0 in 43 minutes, a fantastic match was greeted by a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd. The Boys Under 17 Plate Final was won by Rhys Thomas (Gosling, Welwyn Garden City, Herts) who beat promising Bishop's Stortford junior Will Blower 9-4 9-5 9-4 in 25 minutes. On Saturday (26th Nov) a fun tournament was held during the lunch break involving 16 competitors from the Tom Elton Barratt Championships called 'Winner Takes It All', it was a knock-out competition with the first round being best of 7 rallies, the next round best of 5 rallies, the semi-finals best of 3 rallies and the Final was best of 1 rally!! This was won by Jonathan Fuller who held his nerve against Michael Duke by winning the point with a straight forehand drive to the back of the court. The tournament lasted just over 30 minutes and was a welcome break from the rest of the matches. Two years ago a new award for the most sporting person to play in the event was introduced and last year it was won by Rohin Aggarwal from Kent. Jack White from Cambridgeshire won it in 2003. This is awarded to the person who displays good manners on court, helps with refereeing matches etc.. This year the award went to 16 year old Steven Snelling from Lexden squash Club in Colchester after arriving for his first match with a cold, won his match, marked the next match and then lost to Oliver Dixon in the quarter-finals, it was felt by the tournament committee that Steven had played within the spirit of the competition despite feeling ill and continued to play, Well done Steven! Hope you feel better soon. Also, congratulations to Bishop's Stortford's 12 year old star Nicholas Mulvey who won the Essex Junior Open Under 13 event at Redbridge at the weekend, he beat rival Oliver Horton (Connaught Club, Essex) 4-9 10-8 9-2 9-0 to take the title. Regards, Jason Foster Manager & Herts County Champion Bishop's Stortford Squash Club 01279 652897 (Club) www.stortfordsquash.co.uk |
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