Grampian Regional Masters serves up a feast of squash

The Grampian Regional Masters returned at the weekend, with over 80 men and women competing across 18 age categories from O35 to O75. Held at the Aberdeen Squash and Racketball Club, this much anticipated tournament was expertly organised by the Grampian Squash & Racketball Association and Aberdeen Squash & Racketball Club.

The men’s O35 was won by Ross McHoul, who overcame Iain Young in a keenly contested four game match 8-11, 23-21, 11-4, 11-9. After a first-round bye, the number 1 seed Ross had a strong run to the final, beating Steve Black 3-0 in the quarters, before a bruising four game tussle with Andrew Laing in the semis, finishing 11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6.

Men’s O35 standings. Full results see here

  1. Ross McHoul
  2. Iain Young
  3. Jacques Laas
  4. Andrew Laing
  5. Stewart Morrison
  6. Andrew Goodenough
  7. Steve Black
  8. BYE
  9. Nicky Riley
  10. Erik Van Der Marel
  11. 11- 16 BYE

 Andrew Spiers battled to a great win in the O40 category, beating the number one seed Blair McKenzie 13-11, 4-11, 2-11, 7-11 and Euan Allison 11-5, 8-11, 5-11, 5-11 in the top finals group. The number 2 seed Barry Masson won the second group beating Nicky Riley 3-0 before accepting a walkover against David McCormick, who had to withdraw. Meanwhile in the third group playoff, Malcolm Cameron came out on top.

Men’s O40 standings. Full results see here

  1. Andrew Spiers
  2. Blair McKenzie
  3. Euan Allison
  4. Barry Masson
  5. Nicky Riley
  6. Malcolm Cameron
  7. Simon Peachey
  8. Erik Van Der Marel

 The men’s O45 went to form with the number 1 seed Simon Boughton beating the number 2 seed Keith Simpson in a gripping final 12-10, 12-10, 11-6. Simon didn’t drop a game throughout his run to the final, beating Chris Turlik in the quarters 11-3, 11-6, 11-1 and the number four seed Blair McKenzie 12-10, 11-4, 11-4 in the semis. Despite this it was far from a walkover, with Simon conjuring tremendous stamina and mental fortitude to battle through consecutive tough games to maintain his 100% record.

Men’s O45 standings. Full results see here

  1. Simon Boughton
  2. Keith Simpson
  3. Blair McKenzie
  4. Peter Buchan
  5. Douglas Emery
  6. Barry Masson
  7. Bye
  8. Bye
  9. Malcolm Cameron
  10. Jorge Covarrubias
  11. Paul Stein

There were eight competitors in the O50 draw which was won by the number 1 seed Angus Woodward who beat Douglas Emery 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 in a hard-fought final. Both finalists enjoyed 3-0 victories along the way, including wins against Iain Clark and Chris Turlik for Angus and two solid victories against Donald Durrand and John Kynoch for Douglas.

Men’s O50 standings. Full results see here

  1. Angus Woodward
  2. Douglas Emery
  3. Chris Turlik
  4. John Kynoch
  5. Paul Macari
  6. Iain Clark
  7. Donald Durrand
  8. Andrew Robertson

Billy Gregory topped the bill in the men’s O55, winning both of his games against Donald Durrand (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8) and Andrew Robertson (7-11, 7-11, 7-11). The game of the draw was Donald’s epic 14-12 tussle against Andrew Robertson, and two of the matches went to four games in a keenly contested draw

Men’s O55 standings. Full results see here

  1. Billy Gregor
  2. Donald Durrand
  3. Andrew Robertson

The men’s O60 had five competitors in the draw. Chris Holt came out on top with four straight wins. He beat Paul Harris in a fantastic five game thriller on court 1 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, before beating Eric Duguid and David McAleese in three. Chris showed great stamina to come through a second five game epic when he beat Norman Paterson 11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 4-11, 5-11 in the final game of a highly entertaining draw. Other games of note were Paul Harris’ match against his rival Eric Duguid and Norman Paterson’s great win against Paul Harris which finished 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 4-11, 7-11.

Men’s O60 standings. Full results see here

The number 2 seed Bryan Jackson won the men’s O65 with 3-0 victories over Trevor Mackie and Robert Thomson, before a titanic struggle with the winner of the other draw and number one seed George Stewart 6-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-9. George lost only one of his six games on the way to the final, but despite winning the opening two games of the final, couldn’t quite maintain his stamina and form for the final three.

Men’s O65 standings. Full results see here

  1. Bryan Jackson
  2. George Stewart
  3. Charlie Patrick
  4. Trevor Mackie
  5. Robert Thompson
  6. Keith Hobson

Eight players competed for top spot in the men’s O70. Ian Ross won the draw without dropping a game, beating Brian Duffy, Walter McAllister and the number 2 seed Alex Sinclair along the way. The match of the draw was between Alex Allan and Phil Leek which finished 1-8, 11-5, 2-11, 0-11, 0-11. After winning the first two 11-8, 11-5, Phil came back strong in the third 2-11. Alex was clearly struggling with an injury at this point but carried on finishing the five game match.

Men’s O70 standings. Full results see here

  1. Ian Ross
  2. Alex Sinclair
  3. Walter McAllister
  4. Phil Leek
  5. Brian Duffy
  6. Jim Webster
  7. Alex Allan (Ret.)
  8. Alastair McMeckan

The men’s O75 draw witnessed a great win for Andy Duff who went into the draw as the lowest seeded player. But it was a tough road to the title, with Andy winning 9 out of 13 games, including a five-game classic against the second seed Bernard Starkey. After dropping the first two game 11-6, 11-9, Andy came back in the third 6-11, and battled through the fourth 10-12 to take the match to a decider. He won the last game 7-11.

Men’s O75 standings. Full results see here

  1. Andy Duff
  2. Ken Reid
  3. Bernard Starkey
  4. Tom Kane
  5. David Brown

There was  one draw in the women’s game – the O55 –  the quality of squash and competitiveness on display was top drawer. Many of the games in the O55 were keenly contested, including four five game classics. Pauline Douglas was the standout player, winning all three of her games in three against Julia Horsburgh, Helen Cordiner and Bernie Beattie.

The match of the draw was a five-game thriller between Helen Cordiner and Bernie Beattie on court 6. After Helen took a commanding 2-0 lead, including an epic tussle in the second 15-13, Bernie fought back winning the third 9-11 and fourth 7-11, before Helen found another gear and closed out the game 11-3.

Helen had another great game with Julia Horsburgh which finished 12-10, 11-7, 2-11, 3-11, 5-11. This time Helen found herself 2-0 down, but as in her other game, she was able to find another gear and won the final three comfortably.

Women’s O55 standings. Full results see here

  1. Pauline Douglas
  2. Julia Horsburgh
  3. Helen Cordiner
  4. Bernie Beattie

 

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