Giffnock Open – Report

Day 1-

10^th of September saw the official kick of the first Giffnock senior Open 2016. Where 33 players spread out over 3 graded draws competed against each other.

The A Draw with Mark Ford and Michael Ross topping the draw at 1^st and 2^nd seed.

The first round had some epic encounters with the most notable being Unseeded player Daniel O’sullivan taking out an experienced 4^th seed Niall Morris in 5 sets. 4 games of below Par squash from Morris however DO’s playing his best squash in the 5^th set with a chopsuey of nicks.

The second round of matches saw 3^rd seed Jason Lang unfortunately have to Retired with a calf injury which gave Mark Coyle Semis spot on the Sunday. Ross had a straight forward 3-0 win to get through. Ford had a battle on his hands against his regular hitting partner Owen Hadden who was a late entry to the draw and arguably could take the spot of 2^nd seed. Ford took the match in a highly competitive 3-0. Hadden having a game ball in the 3^rd with some trademark attacking squash. Losing out in a tiebreak 3^rd.

The B draw saw the top 3 seed get a 1^st round bye and with many tough first round matches for all. With huge battle between Glasgow Uni team mates Rebecca Symmons and Finlay Nelson. Where Nelson just toed over the line with a 12-10 win in the 5^th set.

The 2^nd round set up a saw 2 gargantuan quarter finals with the 1^st seed Blanchflower being taken the distance by unseeded Dave Simpson. Blanchflower showing great composure in the 5^th. Jesse Mills also being taken the distance by Orla Young (a young up and coming talent form Newlands with a great attitude & approach game.) Young took mills right to the wire missing out 11-9 in the 5^th. The Robinson duo progression to the semis to join Mills and top seed Blanchflower.

The C draw was run as a round robin event with the 4 competitor facing off against one and other with a last minute withdrawal due to unforeseen circumstances. This event saw all 4 players competing in their 1^st ever tournament. Which made for some exciting viewing. Kenny Mclean topping the draw overall with a series of constant performance throughout. Congratulation to the other 3 on their first event and I hope they continue to get actively involved in more events.

DAY 2

With the K.O Draw format Sunday was a lot quieter but still plenty of squash on show. In the A draw both seeds despatched their opponents with relative ease and advanced to the next round. DO’s continued on with his tournament form after getting through to the semis however he found the tin far too often and this made points for free for the seeded player.

Both seeds advanced in the B however both were extremely tested and we could have possibly had 2 different players in this final as the Semis both went to 5 sets.

Later in the day we had the A plate final which proved to be a fiercely competitive match between Stuart Pitt and Angus Woodward.  Both players were giving nothing away and this resulted in a lot of contact around the middle of the court. However when the players got through the play the pickups and squash on show was highly entertaining. Pitt was award a Conduct stroke For Barging in 2^nd which gave Pitt the game to tie the match. This made both players navigate around each other better and made for a thrilling 4set match in the end Pitt coming out on top.

The B final was a Father V’s Son Battle. This final was competitive all the way through however the youth of Sean Robinson using his movement and fast play to topple his opponent. Sean won the B Final 3-0

The A final looked like it was over before it had started with Mark Ford racing to a 2-0 lead and Michael Ross finding the tin on every attempt to attack. However in the 3^rd MJ Ross severely upped the tempo and started using hard hitting to gain position against his opponent. Which resulted in a quick 3^rd set to MJR. The next 2 sets were absolutely brutal gut wrenching squash where both players were end to end running and neither party was in control for more than a few shots. This seemed to be showing in the legs of Ford. Which resulted in a 12-10 tiebreak 4^th for MJR.

The 5^th also went to a breaker with mark at match ball. This is where leg wobbler of a rally ensued and Ford fell over in the back corner hitting a high boast in the middle of the court but for some bizarre reason MJR hit the ball right the middle of the court back to FORD. In a mad scramble tried to pick himself to his feet and get the racket ready to hit the ball for a winner in to more of less and open court and Too add to the drama he managed to find the tin!! Michael Ross was to say the least extremely fortunate here. However the damage was done and the Ford’s legs were running on empty.

MJR closed out the 5^th 12-10 and took the match and 1^st Giffnock Open championships.

Congratulations to all the competitors and Giffnock was very grateful to have you.

Results available here