Station Hotel Tankard - Season 2001-2002

Jane nips Station Tankard - 27/04/02

L to R:- Linda Sinclair-|-Pauline Gunn-|-Jane Grant-|-Brian Farmer

Blackwood lifts title - 12/01/02

New year resolutions were clearly in evidence as 20 competitors turned out for Thurso Squash Club's popular Station Hotel Tankard handicap event.
This competition is held four times per season and is contested in one day, which means a lot of intensive squash for those who win through to the latter stages.
First round losers do get a second chance in the plate competition.
In the first semi-final, on this occasion, Steven Gunn did well to notch the necessary points to beat Thurso's number one player, James Henderson.
In the other half of the draw, Sheila Stewart did well to defeat Donald Pollard.
Sheila is a feared opponent off her handicap and once again she produced the killer shots to see off Steven in the final despite a determined surge by the latter.

The main competition saw ladies' team member, Carole Mowat and Jane Grant meet in the first semi-final, with Carole edging a victory.
The boys' side was held up by David Blackwood and Scott Phares in the other half of the draw, with David using his handicap to run out the winner.
David continued his good form to nudge out Carole in an entertaining final.

Overall Winners	Davie & Carole - Final	Davie & Scott - Semi-Final
Sheila sending Steven away in Final	Sheila & Titch in Semi-Final	An excited crowd watch final
Bird and legend	Bird & Carole doing a bit of advertising	Neillie Mackay having a teet....
Pauline & Jane talking tic-tacs	Girls just wanna get pissed...	Cheeky....

Debut man Chris secures Tankard - 27/10/01

Left:- Neil (plate runner-up) Pauline (plate winner) Right:- Chris (winner) Jane Grant (runner-up)

A healthy number of contestants turned up for the second Station Tankard, of the season.

A new scoring system was devised to allow the tournament to flow faster and, I suppose, end a bit quicker. It consisted of playing two games and, depending on the score in the first, the player would only have to gain a certain amount of points to win.

The final of the plate saw Pauline Gunn take on new start Neil Mackay from 'eBig'H' (owner of Precisioin Blinds - click for website - free advertising.....).
With Pauline playing her trademark drop shots, it was always going to be difficult for Neil to claw back the few points needed to secure the plate. After 'sussing' out how to finish Pauline's close wall serves, there seemed to be a new man playing on the court but she just edged the first game 15-13.
The second was just as close but Pauline managed to add another piece of silverware to her ever-growing squash cabinet, for a few months, by playing a neat drop shot that Neil had no chance of reaching.

The final of the main competition saw 'debut man' Chris Williamson take on Jane Grant.
Hard hitting Chris, proved just to strong for Jane, in the two game encounter. But Jane managed to sneak in some nice 'nick and boast' shots that made Chris fight for the title.

Linda's determined display in Final - 18/08/01

IRONICALLY. Thurso and District Squash Club's first handicap tournament of 2001/02, the Station Hotel Tankards was scheduled for what turned out to be a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon. Nonetheless a keen assortment of players dragged themselves off their deck chairs or away from the barbecue.

l to r:- Bruce Maltman(plate runner-up)|Sheila Stewart(plate winner)|LindaSinclair(winner)| Davie Swanson(runner-up)

In the plate semi-finals, Sheila Stewart beat Pauline Gunn in a closely-fought match off level handicaps while Bruce Maltman needed three games to defeat the rapidly-improving Malcolm Lord. Sheila's killer drops secured the winning points in the final before Bruce could grind down the considerable handicap difference.

In the main competition Alan Irvine was back in action after injury. Sean Bremner and Linda Sinclair contested the first semi-final, which went to one game all, but Sean had had two tough matches and Linda raced to victory in the deciding game.

The other semi brought together two players who are quickly moving up through the mini-leagues. Davy Swanson and Billy Johnston were equal in handicap, which proved accurate as the match went to a deciding game where the reach and retrieving of Davy just edged out the power hitting and tight drops that are Billy's trademark.

In the final Davy seemed to be feeling the effects of his fourth match as Linda Sinclair showed her usual determination and athleticism, taking advantage of her handicap to win by two games to nil.

End-of-Document