Sunday 30 December 2012

Grange V Waverley Xmas Racketball Challenge (Fri, Dec 28)

First up tonight was Alan Stokes making his racketball team debut at number 4 against veteran campaigner Brian. Having never played before, Alan was taking time to adjust but only narrowly lost out to 70 year old Brian (Not really but it makes a good story, sorry Brian) Obviously the team had to ensure that Stoksey didn’t have anything to boast about in his first game so well done to umpire Mike Wagner for some creative scoring in the third which saw Brian play a remarkable rally which was deemed worth 3 points to see Alan lose out in the third 16-17.

I was up next at 1 against Colin Cruickshank and in a hard fought match where I narrowly won the first two sets, Colin managed to pull one back to make it 2-1. The strenuous efforts Colin had to make to match my remarkable court coverage took its toll and unfortunately Colin had to retire half way through the third as he was seeing stars at the end of every epic rally.
Mike Douglas was on at 2 against Domenic Risi  at was most unsporting in his efforts to continually sneeze all over his opponent. Domenic was obviously severely distracted by the bacterial onslaught and went down 3-0 albeit every game went down to the wire.

Derek Addison played number 5 against Donald Shearer and whilst I didn’t see much of this game it appears Derek was unable to use his stealth like movement to any advantage and lost out 0-3.
Mike Wagner took on George at number 6 in a match which saw him break his racketball duck in impressive fashion with a 3-0 victory.

Last on was John Matthew playing Waverley’s John Allan at number 3. John appeared to be enjoying his elevated position in the team order and despite numerous attempts to break the tin at the bottom of the court he was holding his own against a tricky opponent. At 2-1 up John should have closed out the 4th but managed to lose a 9-1 lead and concede the game and see things level at 2-2. At 9-1 up again in the 5th no one in the balcony was placing bets on a Grange win however despite being pegged back to 14-14, John did manage to hold out for a 17-15 win which also meant an overall victory for the Grange.
As always, the score was really immaterial and a good night was had by all. Most of the players retired to San Marco for a festive pizza and tipple (See photo of the athletes post match meal below). Hopefully we might manage another match before the summer if court times

L-R: John Allan(WVY), Brian '70' Scott(WVY), David Grieve, John Matthew, Domenic Risi(WVY)
, Mike Douglas, Mike Wagner & George ? at San Marco for post-match Pizza
John Matthew against Waverley's John Allan
 
Naomi suggests caption: "A good advertisement for hair restorer"

A mish-mash of news, whimsy and history lesson

Tim & the gang play ping pong on the 2 tables in The Long Room
 
In another piece of seasonal whimsy, I was talking to a dog-walker on the Drylaw cycle path and he was very interested in the logo on my tree-house. I had "recycled" the tin from the squash court when Bill Marshall had re-floored the squash courts 4 years ago and it was lying in a skip.
In an excellent bit of product placement, if I say so myself, the Stag and "Grange Squash" tin was now on my treehouse, free advertising for the club to the cyclists and walkers on the Davidson Mains to Craigleith cycle path.
   The reason for the interest from the dog-walker was that he worked for The Dalmore whiskey brand and their logo is also a stag, with the following story behind it.
   Note that their stag is a 12-point antlered one whereas ours is 14 points and somewhat less fearsome, in keeping with the MacKenzie history of their logo.
   (As an aside, do not confuse with another distillery: Glenfiddich is anglicised from The Valley of the Deer and they have an 8-point stage logo.) A mature red deer stag can have up to 16 points so the Grange logo is anatomically correct.

For those not familiar with the origin of The Grange Club name and logo, the club originally did reside in the Grange area of Edinburgh, not far from the current Carlton Cricket Club, from 1832-36.
The club outgrew this ground and moved to a field near Grove St after 4 years.
    In 1863 the club became of-no-fixed-abode and then resided at Fettes college grounds from 1864-70. It finally settled in Inverleith Farm(now Portgower Place-Raeburn Place) in 1870 and built a pavilion and pitch for £700. In 1894, the present pavilion was constructed for £1400.
(Summarised from the cricket club's excellent 175-anniversary brochure. Click here.

What is the point of all this? That the 3 founders can have little imagined when they founded the club 180 years ago that the club would eventually see sports such as tennis, squash, hockey, lacrosse, archery, ping-pong, softball, volleyball, touch rugby, soccer and no doubt a few others on it's hallowed turf!
    Hopefully our readers enjoy the somewhat educational trip down memory lane at this time of year when outdoor sporting activities are curtailed.

Friday 14 December 2012

Grange 5 @ Waverley 4 – Thursday 13/12/2012;

First up for the Grange at No 5 was Craig Watt playing Brian Scott. Craig got his nose in front in the first set but was unable to hold on and lost the first 6-9, learning his lesson in the second Craig managed to hold onto his lead and took the second set 9-5. Brian gradually dominated the rest of the game and ran out as the winner taking the match 3:1 – 9-6, 5-9, 9-1, 9-4.
Bill Marshall was playing Bernard Chizanga at No 4 on the other court and Bill took the first two sets against the hard hitting Bernard with sensible squash and keeping the ball in play and allowing his opponent to make the mistakes. Bernard eventually reduced his error count and started to establish himself in the match by moving Bill about the court and went on to win the match 3:2 – 8-10, 7-9, 9-5, 9-3, 9-5 
I was playing a number three against Martin Robertson, and a familiar story emerged of me setting up the point with some loose returns allowing my opponent an easy put away for a winner and I lost the match 3:0 – 9-3, 9-6, 9-2, sadly this seems to be a reoccurring theme at the moment and I need to find a way to get past this and start contributing points for the team.
Next up on court was Tom McEwan playing at No 2 and his opponent was John Allen. Tom quickly got the upper hand in this match and never let his opponent settle, taking the match 3:0 – 9-4, 9-4, 10-8
Last up was Stephen Davey at No 1 playing Chris Jeffery. Chris took the first set with some nice lob services that troubled Stephen. The accuracy of the lobs serves could not be maintained and Stephen won a close second set before wrapping up the match comfortably winning 3:1, 6-9, 9-7, 9-1, 9-2
Match result 13-9 to Wav 4.
We were then treated Curry & Rice and Nan bread and talk turned to the results of EGM held at the Grange the previous evening.
Match report – Neil Love
Pos
Player
Rubbers
Games
Points
Player
Rubbers
Games
Points
1
Chris Jeffrey
0
1
19
Stephen Davey
1
3
33
2
John Allen
0
0
16
Tom McEwan
1
3
28
3
Martin Robertson
1
3
27
Neil Love
0
0
11
4
Bernard Chizanga
1
3
42
Bill Marshall
0
2
32
5
Brian Scott
1
3
32
Craig Watt
0
1
20
Total
3
10
136
2
9
124
Competition Points
13
9
 

Funeral Arrangements - Gavin Fulton RIP

Here is the notice in the newspapers (click to light a candle):
Service to be held at Warriston Crematorium Lorimer Chapel, on Tuesday, December 18, at 2.00 pm to which all family and friends are invited. No flowers please, donations if desired may be made on retiral of service in aid of Scottish Sports Aid and Organ Donation Support. Dress code optional.
Funeral is 2pm Tue Dec 18 at Warriston, function back at Grange pavilion afterwards.
(His widow Jill would be happy for his clubmates and folk from other clubs who have come across Gavin who so wish, to attend & pay their respects.)

So far 60 hits on the original thread, I just want to pop this to the top of the blog. Christy

Gavin would have been delighted to finish the year in League 1 above the current club champion!

Click here for League results Divisions 1-19





Wednesday 12 December 2012

Ladies on the up for the last 2 weeks

The girls 1st team do it again…..  a great win over Waverley (Mon, Dec 3)
 
Up first was the newly engaged Jules (congratulations!!) – her mind was still in Ethiopia until the 3rd game but still a good effort!
 Lottie was on form with stylish squash and a great 3-0 result. Next up was Georgina with good tight hard hitting squash then Catherine who appears to be trying to make all her matches go to 5! 2-0 up when Donna went on court, we thought she would be long finished before Donna but…….  playing against her old Aberdeen rival she decided that she needed a little more exercise and despite having match point in the 3rd opted for a 5-setter. Fortunately the end result was in Catherine’s favour.
Also, lucky for Donna her opponent was not playing as sharply as usual so a relatively straightforward match for her and perfect timing because Donna and Catherine finished at the same time.  Georgina obviously knew that there was something suspect about Catherine’s non-bakeable baking potatoes because she headed off before supper. Not only did our potatoes not cook in 2 hours, we forgot the butter so we had to have hard unbuttered tatties for tea – tasty  beans and cheese though!!!

PosPlayerRubbersGamesPoints PlayerRubbersGamesPoints
1Donna Cruickshank1327Heather Spens0018
2Catherine John1342Kirsty Douglas0230
3Georgina Jamieson1327Yvonne Ferguson005
4Lottie Fulton1327Jo Watts009
5Julia Lutte009Sam Hart1328
Total4121321590
Competition Points15 5
 
Ladies’ 1sts kept Dalgety at bay!!!! (Mon Dec 10)

Despite all of us getting lost on the way (it is the roundabout with the church on it!) Jules was mentally back in Scotland this week, Anna’s bad back & ankle held up and Georgina and Donna were both on form (Dalgety didn’t have a 5th player) so we had our first full 18 points result for this season!!!  Finished off with lovely “cooked” baked potatoes (but no butter again!) & huge cookies. I haven’t checked with everyone but I assume the whole team found their way home!

Pos Player Rubbers Games Points Player Rubbers Games Points
1 Donna Cruickshank 1 3 34 Hayley Cooper 0 1 13
2 Georgina Jamieson 1 3 27 Verity Whiteside 0 0 5
3 Julia Lutte 1 3 31 Linda Murray 0 1 25
4 Anna Gaskell 1 3 27 Hayley Verdon 0 0 6
5 Karen Kennedy 1 3 27 no player 0 0 0 Forfeit
Total 5 15 146 0 2 49
Competition Points 18 2

Sunday 9 December 2012

Sad news of a fallen teammate... (Fri, Dec 7)

It is with regret that I post the news of the untimely death of Gavin Fulton. I won't write too much here, except to say Gavin was taken to hospital on Fri night and unfortunately he didn't make it. He leaves behind his wife Jill and 2 young daughters who are also members of the club. My condolences go to them. Gavin was a great guy to be around, always smiling and recounting funny stories from the squash courts of Agilent and Grange. This picture taken after he won a final in the Grange Open recently is the only image I ever have of Gavin - always smiling! May he rest in peace.

Funeral is 2pm Tue Dec 18  at Warriston, function at Grange pavilion afterwards.
(His widow Jill would be happy for all his clubmates and those from other clubs to attend.)

Initial The Scotsman Report

TV report after the court case

Another report

Full Page tribute in Evening News

Deadline News PA report

List of people with message of condolences (apologies for omissions):
------------
Ross Anderson - The Dean SC
Matthew Hunter

Ken Steele - ESC
David Coutts
Mark ~Adderley

Bill Brown - Colinton Castle SC
Robin Nisbet - Bank of Scotland SC

David Legge - Dunbar SC

Claire Gray - ESSA/HWU
Richard McIntosh - Watsonians SC

Peter O'Hara - Newlands
Andrew McSherry - Whitecraigs

Agilent
--
Iain Gourlay
Charlie Patrick
Jim Watson
Gordon Hunter
Alec Allan
Alan Murray

Grange SC
--
Peter Cockburn (Club Captain)
Neil Christison (Chairman, The Grange Club)
Gordon Tolland (Secretary, The Grange Club)
Bill Marshall(Club President)
Ali Ross (Vice President)
Christy Looby (Tournament Sec)
Will Kerr (Club champ)
Brian Sloan
Patrick Langley
Stuart Moffatt
Dougie Brown
Alan Stokes
Mike Douglas
Allan Wallace
Allan Hamer
Gordon Sloan 

Friday 7 December 2012

GRG3 home vs DLL1 6/12/2012


Another good night for the 3rds saw them add another 17 points to their 20, 20 from the previous two weeks.  That sequence has seen the 3rds hoist themselves form a lowly position into a clear 4th place in the table at the half-way point of the season.  Still a bit of a gap to bridge to the leading teams so that good work has to continue as we take on those very teams in the first few weeks of 2013.
First up was Christy Looby at no 5 against John Wallace (father of Allan..).     A fairly close first game was then followed by an increasing dominance by Christy to see him run out 9-4, 9-1, 9-3.
Mike Gore at No4 continued his recent excellent team and minileague form with a good display of power hitting and touch.  A good 9-2, 9-6, 9-5 win over Callum Lyle.
At No 3 Mark Dutton took on Craig Lax.  A close first game was taken by Mark with both players making some unforced errors amongst otherwise good play.  Mark got control of the error situation and took the second comfortably.  The third game was a good struggle with both players having a few game points each with Mark snatching it with an outrageously lucky recovery shot ended up in a dead nick which is has to be said was a bit hard on Craig.  9-6, 9-3. 10-8.
Doug Brown at no2 had a tough time against the highly rated Neil Abbey.   Doug's very recent good team form wasn't enough to trouble Neil too much in the first two.  The third was a different story, going point for point until Neil pulled away an 8-5 lead.  Doug then dug in and saved several match points and eventually drew level before Neil grabbed the final two points.  2-9, 5-9, 8-10
The best match of the evening was at no1 between Andy Whitelaw and Richard Gordon.  It was even worth the resulting cold, soggy pizzas to watch it.    It looked very much like it would be a very short match as Andy found himself down 1-8 in very short order.  He saved seven game points on his recovery to 5-8 but inevitably Richard got the point he needed.   The second was very close with Richard needing to take it to a long game before winning again.   The balance of power had shifted though and Andy took the third in another long game, having to save a match point on the way.  Another long, close struggle in the fourth was eventually won by Andy who by this time was visibly beginning to tire.   Turns out though that Richard was tiring more and Andy took the final game with a bit of comfort in the end.  An amazing 157 rallies in total (amazing that someone actually counted them too…!).   5-9, 8-10, 10-8, 9-7, 9-4. (M.Dutton)

Division:       4     
Round:  9     
Date:   6/12/2012     
Teams:  
Grange 3 vs David Lloyd 1     

Pos     Player  Rubbers Games   Points                  Player  Rubbers Games   Points        
1       
Andrew Whitelaw 1       3       41                      Richard Gordon  0       2       38            
2       
Dougie Brown    0       0       15                      Neil Abbey      1       3       28            
3       
Mark Dutton     1       3       28                      Craig Lax       0       0       17            
4       
Mike Gore       1       3       27                      Callum Lyle     0       0       13            
5       
Christy Looby   1       3       27                      John Wallace    0       0       8              Total           4       12      138                             1       5       104           
Competition Points              15                                              5        

Thursday 6 December 2012

Grange 4s v WLY 3s

Grange 4s v WLY 3s
The Houdini act is on!
Could this be the start of the 4s great escape from relegation? A good win for the 4s didn’t look on when Rocco and Anthony, who were first on, both lost their opening games! Rocco recovered well to run out a comfortable winner over Mike Gibson however Anthony was up against a stuffy opponent in John Allan and although losing 0-3 he actually only scored two less points in the 3 games. I (Brian Sloan) was next up as was Richard against Brian Scott and Martin Robertson respectively and we both had similar games to Rocco, not playing particularly well in the first game and losing it before screwing the nut to win the next 3. We had suddenly won the match! Could Georgina put the icing on the cake against Heather Spens at No 1. This was a superb match between the two ladies displaying some real class squash. Heather just could not put Georgina away who chased down everything and returned with real quality to win 3-0. Georgina had promised a win and she certainly delivered. The cherry on the top was me earlier in the evening passing my refs assessment so we even earned an additional 2 points!
Final score 18-8, my contribution being 5 points, that is 27.7% of our total teammates!! Who is the daddy now!!
We should have a stronger squad for the second half and greater availability so survival is not out the question. Watch this space!

Grange 2’s WIN!

A night marred by captain inadequacies but resulting in a very good win for Grange Men 2’s against Div 3. leaders Deer Park.

Forbes, Fulton & Grinton won comfortably at positions 5, 4 and 2 respectively. Walker was out-muscled at position 3 despite running Taryne tight. And yet again, Captain Sloan couldn’t lead by example – losing to Colin in the fifth (note I ran my competitor close for the first time in a while!).

Back to winning ways for the 2’s and a much needed 16 points overall helping us reach a ‘safe’ league position by Christmas.

Captain inadequacies? 1) The use of ‘West of Scotland’ score sheets 2) The lack of a Results Sheet until we got back to the club 3) Mis-communication on ordering pizza resulting in a precarious, icey walk to Franco’s 4) Another loss at 1 position! However, we’re making some progress so long may it continue!

Sloan.

Grange 5 at DLL2 – Wednesday 05/12/2012

The fifths were playing at the David Lloyds Corstorphine this evening.
Firstly, I must apologies to my fellow team mates as I was about as much use as a pound of mince, and my first match in eight weeks saw me getting thoroughly humped 9-2, 9-1, 9-0 by Elaine Inglis.
First up for the Grange at No 5 was Angus McPherson, who agreed to play for the fifths after the list of possible replacements all said no and it was not until he arrived at David Lloyds that I realised that Angus was making his team debut at the age of 14. Angus was playing Steve Lea and after a keenly contested first set that Steve won 9-6, Angus went missing and lost the second set 9-0 in quick time. A coaching session and words of encouragement followed and Angus was a different player in the third, hardly any boasts and lots of straight drives saw Angus take control of the third and quickly move into a 7-3 lead, Steve got back into the game and was serving for the match at 9-8 only for Angus to keep his composure and take the third set 10-9, by this time a crowd had gathered to watch this match and Angus was playing some nice shots and pulling Steve all around the court and took the fourth set 10-8. Steve then raced to 7-1 in the fifth and we thought that Angus’s gallant effort was about to be ended, but Angus kept playing nice length and was making Steve work for all his points, a few mistakes crept in to Steve’s game and he was spending much of his time at the back of the court and Angus was hunting down anything that was being thrown at him, gradually Angus drew level at 7-7 and then held his nerve for a fantastic win taking the fifth set 9-7 for a 3-2 win on his Grange team debut and a superb performance, well done Angus.
Bill Marshall was playing Eamonn Keane at No 4 on the other court and Bill never managed to get a foot hold in the match and went down to the 3-0 loss, 9-3, 9-2, 9-5, At least you managed to score more points than me.
Next up was Stephen Davey at No 1 playing Ian Gallacher. This was a strange match in that each of the five sets one player dominated and they took in turns to do so. It was important to get the first set and Ian prevailed and went on to win 3-2, 9-3, 5-9, 9-4, 1-9, 9-2.
Tom McEwan was last on court playing at No 2 and his opponent was Blair Lochrie. This game saw two players with contrasting styles play out a tight competitive match that Tom managed to win 3-2. 9-7, 8-10, 9-7, 8-10, 7-9.
Match result 16-8 to DLL2.
DLL2 then treated us to soup and wraps, before we headed out in the freezing cold for home.
Match report – Neil Love

Wednesday 5 December 2012

GRG1s Vs DLN (05 Dec 2012)

GRG1s notched up a 4th win in a row tonight. Thanks again to our strong core of Stuart Moffat, Mike Hall and Nick Wood at 5,4 and 3

Moff cranked out yet another 3-0 victory against Matt which started with a fairly agricultural first game in which the ball only just survived! Stu pushed on and managed to tighten things up to power through the next 2. Done

Mike had a battle against Greg at 4. A topsy turvy 5 setter which he eeked through in the end. For a five setter I think Mike only got 30 odd points!!

Nick took on Charlie at 3. Raced through the first game with little opposition from Charlie who looked like he needed to thaw out! Closer battles in the next but Nick kept focused and took it in 3. Match won!

I went on against Ali Flemming at 2 in what was to be Ali's last match in the east leagues before he sets of to Melbourne for a new life in Oz! Ali swept me aside fairly easily in the first. So quick it barely registerd with me which was to be to my detriment later on!! I managed to do the same to Ali in the second and work my way to to being 7-2 up in the 3rd. Stupidly my throughts turned to planning my attack for the fourth. Convinced I was on track for the win. Not to be as I got suckered back into Ali's game and he romped back to take the third 10-8. Having forgot I lost the first I played pretty cool in the 4th thinking I had more time. I didn't! When he got to match ball I was a bit confused. 3-1 to Ali

Will was up against Ken Maxwell in a replay of their B-plate final in the GRG open. Trying to make amends for his defeat Will got up to a 2-1 lead in a match with few rallies. This was all about the shot making! Unfortunately Ken had more and took it 3-2.

Pizza and some banter afterwards. Ali was presented with a small squash survival pack as a leaving gift from his team mates. Grips, tapes, plaster etc. And a single latex glove???

Also a loooong list of Ali's favourite excuses All starting "For F*ck Sake!"

All the best to Ali in his new life down under. I'm sure squash in 35 C heat will suit his style nicely!!

Pete

National League standings - The Gratrix


Tuesday 4 December 2012

In this weeks papers...

Click to enlarge - I had to scan it in in two parts. Edinburgh Evening News, Nov 4, 2012.

Monday 3 December 2012

8th Grange Open 2012 Archive

The 8th Titan Sports Grange Open saw 50 competitors and their supporters arrive at The Grange Club for a weekend-long blitz of squash. 
The highlight of the first round on Saturday morning was an amazing match between Jamie Henderson  (recently capped for Scotland at U-19) and Colin Grant of Watsonians SC with the audience gasping at amazing retrievals
and shot-making. The youngster prevailed in four tight games. 
(Click on the pics to view in full resolution, compressed to save space)

 Linda Murray lost out to her Dalgety Bay
teammate Verity Whiteside in Ladies Plate.
Jonathan McBride(CCSC) defeated 
a sweat-drenched Colin Grant
(Watsonians SC)in the Open plate

The second round of matches on Saturday afternoon saw Henderson taking to the court again and lift his game another notch. He pushed second-seed Kevin Moran all the way in 3 tight games but Moran used all his experience as a full international to close out the last few points of each game and conserve energy for the final. Kenneth Boyle from Hamilton took on top seed Douglas Kempsell in another quality match full of breathtaking movement and shots. Again the experience of playing for Scotland showed as Kempsell kept his nose in front in all 3 games, in spite of Boyle throwing everything including the kitchen sink at him.

Sunday saw ladies semi-finals with Georgina Jamieson taking on Grange clubmate Donna Cruickshank, the two having never played each other before! Donna slowed down the pace while Ms Jamieson favoured faster rallying style, in then end Ms Cruickshank experience as an ex-international player showed and she got her clubmate off court in 4 games.

 Helen Nicoll entered competiton facing Hayley Cooper of Dalgety Bay SC. Helen dominated the first game but as it went on, Hayley was getting more into it but too little, too late, Helen went through in straight games.
Gavin Fulton in his first tourney
takes the C plate for The Grange
Peter Cockburn also gets a home
win in the C Div.
 The finals of the D, C and B grades saw wins from Stephen Litster of Tyne SC, Peter Cockburn of Grange SC, Gavin Fulton also of The Grange SC in the C plate and Jaime Balbuena from Sunday's Well SC (Cork, Ireland).
Jaime Balbuena of Sunday's Well,
 Cork won in 5 games in B Div. 

final v Roddy Robinson(CCSC)

Jaime takes a Titan bat back
to Ireland after his B win
















The finals reached a climax as the ladies took to court. Both players sought to control the T. Ms Cruickshank narrowly lost out in the first game and after that Ms Nicoll pulled away in impressive fashion. In the end, Ms Nicoll edged it in 3 straight games to take her the title on her  first attempt.  

    
Helen Nicoll and Donna after
their ladies fin
Donna wins her 6th Titan Tiger bat,
her 3rd consecutive GO final
Jonathan McBride(Colinton)
Open Plate Winner
Ken Maxwell(David Lloyd Newhaven)
B-plate winner

    
Helen Nicoll(ASRC) takes
 the ladies cheque
The balcony gathers for the finals


The final saw the gallery packed with enthuasiasts eager to see Moran and Kempsell in action. 

The rallying was brutal as both players pushed each other to the limits from the first serve. One Grange tennis member observed "they are just after playing 3 rallies of more than 100 shots, even Nadal doesn't do this." Kempsell edged the first game but Moran stormed back to take the second. The third went to extra points and Kempsell got the 2-clear points margin to take it. He took an early lead in the fourth game and held it all the way to the winning post. Douglas Kempsell took the winners cheque in his first attempt at the Grange Open. 

Teammates on San Marcos
Grange national league team?
Results in The Scotsman

Kevin does some product placement
for Titan Sports
Douglas takes the champions cheque


Back: Pete Cockburn, Roddy Robinson, David Coutts(D Runner-up), Gavin Fulton,
Stephen Litster(Tyne SC, D winner), Jonathan McBride
Front: Ken Maxwell, Douglas Kempsell, Helen Nicoll, Donna Cruickshank,
Kevin Moran, Jaime Balbuena
Click on the Division for Full Results & Scores: A B C D L

A big thanks to the following:

  • To the players who supported the tournament and were models of sportsmanship all weekend. 
  • Caroline Burns, Alan Stokes and Karen Kennedy fed everyone on both days. 
  • Mike Halpin on Sunday and Craig Pounder on super Saturday were the anchor referees on the balcony. 
  • Titan Sports who are the Santa Claus of squash in Edinburgh, having sponsored the tournament prizes for 8 years. 
  • Ross Anderson of The Dean for being deputy tournament director and keeping me right.
  • And Helen down from Aberdeen, the Hamilton crew of Kenny, Devitt & Macca and Jaime over from Cork, Mike Perring who drove up from Bourne in Surrey,  for travelling the extra miles and adding to the buzz on the balcony. 
(Loob)