North Junior Open (Wick) - Season 2006-2007 - 07&08/10/06

Some winners. more pictures at bottom of page.

Wick Squash Club was the venue for the first ever Northern Squash Open. This Junior tournament was open to all squash players, at the Under Seventeen, Fifteen and Thirteen age group categories and attracted a field from Aberdeen , Inverurie, Inverness, Thurso and Wick. In all, thirty youngsters contested a very busy but enjoyable event. The Under 15 boys category was the most closely contested event, with the most entrants and the highest ranked players vying for top honours.

The draw was made with a combination of seeding and geography, helping form three leagues of four players, to give each player, as many new challengers as possible. With three games each on Saturday and two each on Sunday, there was sure to be some weary bodies by Sunday night. The contest started early on Saturday with a fantastic match between two Scottish ranked players, one from Inverness, Ally McCorquodale and one from Inverurie, Chris Shinnie. They were fifth and sixth respectively in their last tournament in Glasgow, so a close contest was anticipated.

This proved to be the case, with a tremendous tussle ebbing and flowing, first one way then the other, before Ally just clinched it, 3-2 in the fifth game, with some very mature and accurate squash. The other first round matches, in the boys U-15s, all went with seeding and proved to be more one sided contests. Liam Crombie showing a lot of control and too much power for Alan Mackay, another Scottish ranked player, who had come eighth in the Glasgow tournament. Chris Leiper, the furthest travelled player, from Aberdeen, met Gavin Majilton one of the best local lads, but caught him a bit cold and the game was well over before Gavin realised he could seriously challenge for supremacy and claim another high ranked scalp for the Wick club. Chris had been ranked number two for Scotland in the U-13s but has had to move up an age group recently. Craig Nicolson raised his game to push Chris Shinnie pretty close in the next round but the speed and fitness, of the Inverurie lad, took him through to a good 3-1 victory. Mark Peter Nicolson had a good match with Alan Mackay from Inverness, taking the first game, with some tremendous boasts and well disguised drops in a very close contest, 10/9 before Alan began to assert his superiority and won the match 3-1. Craig Jappy too had a great chance against Alan, earlier in the day, when he came back from losing the first two games, to take the third, showing some of his new found strength and determination and best of all a positive attitude even when things were not going his way.

In the Under 13 boys, four local lads were the only entrants but had a great weekends squash, with some very close games and tremendous determination and will to win being shown by all. Fergus Richards won the day with some lovely lob servs and good tactical awareness, playing the ball into the back corners whenever he was given the opportunity. Gary Beales showed great movement and a good eye for the ball in open play and was second on the day. Declan Mackay and Alex Campbell had equally good games but just never quite got the break of the ball at the crucial points. On the Sunday, first played second and third played fourth, to give a final placing. Gary Beales got off to a great start, going two games up and 7-3 up in the third but determination must be Fergus's middle name, as he fought back, to not only take the third game but the fourth and fifth as well. Alex and Declan too served up another epic struggle, with a fine 3-2 victory for Declan.

The girls had a smaller entry, with only two contesting the under 15s and three contesting the under 17s. No under 13s were available, so there is a great opportunity for some young girls to get started and win a few trophies. Although few in number there were still some great squash played. Mhairi Charlton, from Aberdeen, is ranked number three in Scotland, in the U15s age group and showed her experience against Stephanie Campbell, winning the final 3-0. The score does not do justice to the very brave fight put up by Stephanie, who contested many of the rallies well and played the ball with assurance and tactical awareness to make life difficult for her much more experienced opponent. In the U 17s, Donna Majilton and Mhairi Charlton were both too strong for Alison Thompson, from Inverness, who nonetheless is developing as a strong player with good technique and talent. Donna and Mhairi are old adversaries, having met in the Inverness finals for the past two years. Donna has proved to be the winner, on both occasions, but Mhairi is in the Scotland squad and getting more regular exposure to top class matches, so we were looking forward to a great match on the Sunday. We were not disappointed. Mhairi started well taking an early lead 9/7, before Donna found her form, winning the next two games, 3/9, 3/9. Mhairi at the risk of damaging herself or the walls, battled back to take the fourth game 8/10 and set up a tense final game. Donna came out the stronger, quickly gaining a commanding lead, 6/0, before Mhairi came back to level it at 8-8. Now it was first to ten, with Donna getting to nine first and Mhairi levelling again, before a low shot from Donna hit the tin and gave victory to Mhairi. A hard earned win if ever there was one and Mhairi has the satisfaction of her first victory over Donna, while Donna knows that next time, it is just as likely to be her turn to take the gold medal.

The Under 17 boys had a field of eight entrants, with an even split, with four from Wick and four from Thurso, with Wick holding the edge in recent matches. The draw was on a Monrad system, with seedings determining the order of play. 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, and 4 v 5. All matches went with the seedings, with only Sam Hendry suggesting an upset, when he met Sean Miller at 6 v 3 and won the first game 10/8. Sean however soon got his eye in and went on to take the next three games winning 3-1.

The second round brought some closer matches as the seedings became closer 1 v 4, 2 v 3, 5 v 8 and 6 v 7. Jamie Durrand showing a lot of promise, with a close final game against number one seed John Georgeson but losing 10/8 and 3-0. The tie of this round was again Sean Miller taking an early 2-0 lead against the number two seed, Dexter Durrand. He even went 7/3 up in the third, before Dexter found his form and fought back to a really well deserved 3-2 win, but it was close. The third round brought the seedings to 1 v 2, 3 v 4, 5 v 6 and 7 v 8 so giving the opportunity for some really close games. At 7 v 8, two Thurso lads met for a close match, with Ian Dunnet showing that he is fast maturing as a top squash player and pushing Scott Davidson pretty close. Scott just managed to hold him off and win 3-0. At 5 v 6, Sam Hendry was involved in a close tussle and this time came out ahead, beating Martin Gunn 3-1 and moving up to the number 5 position. The next match was perhaps the closest match of the group, with Jamie Durrand at 4 and Sean Miller at 3, meeting in a very good match. Both are keen young players who are reaping the rewards of time and effort in practice and both had high hopes of gaining third place. Jamie took an early lead with a combination of firm drives and great touch, then it was Sean's turn, cutting out anything loose with a deft cut shot to the front corners. Jamie showing great positive attitude and a lot of skill and fitness, turned the tables and with some fine drops and great drives, soon took the fourth and went on to win the fifth and the match.

The final match brought together John and Dexter, to contest the number one and two spots, they have a habit of meeting in finals and have had some really close games. This was no exception, with Dexter storming out to an 8-1 lead, before John, showing great composure, battled back to level the first at 8-8 and then going on to win it 10-8. Realising his mistake, John started the second with more focus and built an early lead, which he held to take it 9-5. The third, was never going to be straight-forward and this time it was Dexter, who was the more focused and again built an early lead going 4-1 up, then to 8-5. John again fought back and levelled it at 8-8, then went on to win 10-8 so giving him a 3-0 victory but it was in no way easy.

The weekend finished with the Under 15s playing off between their groups. The number one players from each of Saturday's groups playing each other, then the number twos fron each group, then threes and fours. The top match was between the winners of groups A and B, with both having beaten Chris Leiper, the winner of groupC. Group A winner was Ally McCorquodale and he met Group B winner Liam Crombie in an excellent final. They had previously met in the Wick v Inverness team event at the beginning of September when Liam had won, then they met in Glasgow where Ally won, so it was all square and neither wanted to lose the decider. Ally won the first, with his usual blend of finesse and disguise. Liam took the second, with his trademark powerful drives and kills. Controlling the third, it looked like Liam had the winning formula, but Ally with renewed determination, won the fourth, so it was all to play for in the fifth. Liam had the greater desire, perhaps the better fitness and certainly once he combined his power with more accuracy he had the winning combination, taking the match 3-2 and the gold medal.

For a brand new squash competition this was a great success with the whole weekend providing squash of the highest order and some great fun for all the participants.

report provided by James Georgeson.

Photos

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