Current honours

The last day of September saw the final of the 2018 Rob Milliner Summer Handicap Tournament played out between Stephen Hanover and Jacob Scott. With the Winter Handicap Plate already under his belt, Jake got the final under way starting at 80 - 65. The early exchanges set the tone for the game with a lot of big hitting and furious industry around the court. Jake was certainly well able to hold his own and extended his lead over the first third of the match.

Having seen his opponent reach the late 80s, Stephen dug in finding a rich vein of form which saw him draw level with Jake and overtake his score by the early 90s. Jake did not give in easily and rallied himself to pull back within a couple of points but eventually ran out of time as Stephen sealed the victory and took the title at 100 - 97.

The final of the plate competition in the 2018 Summer Handicap was played between Richard Patrick and David Sledge, both having been previous winners. These two last played a handicap match in the final of the 2016 Winter Plate which Richard won 100 - 99. That time around, David squandered 7 of his initial 10 point advantage in consecutive points at the start and so Richard didn’t bother giving him any this time around.

Starting at 75 all, David got this final of to a belting start by serving into the tin then followed up with an equally nervy return of service into the same place before the pair settled down to play a fairly decent game of squash provided you aren’t particularly interested in short stuff. Having found his rhythm, David fell into his usual routine of chasing everything down and trying to keep the ball alive whilst Richard tried to direct proceedings from the T and pick off any loose balls. After several attempted kills from Richard hit the tin, David took the lead and from that point was never behind until the latter stages of the match.

David was still 5 or 6 points ahead going into the 90s but then Richard found a purple patch and pulled back to overhaul him before he made 95. Another push from David saw him regain the lead and serve for the trophy at 99 - 98 but a lapse of judgement saw him gift the point when he ought to have called for a let. So, Richard regained the serve on the magical 99 all score and served up a corker which David only just managed to dig out offering a simple opportunity to kill the ball. There are no simple chances on double match point, however and the ball hit the tin once more gifting David the trophy in a direct reversal of that previous final.

Sunday evening saw Andy Peers regain the title of Club Champion by beating Michael Burnett three games to love. Michael worked very hard with lots of movement and frequent lobs but struggled to make any headway against Andy’s patient direction of the play. The final score was 11 - 6, 11 - 5, 11 - 7.

Andy was previously champion in 2016 whilst Michael is also a two time champion from 1997 and 1999 and was runner-up three times before this final.

Next up, Rakesh Gulati beat David Sledge 3 - 1 in the final of the Vintage Tournament. Rakesh was Champion in the second Vintage Tournament in 2016 and has played in every final since then. David struggled from the outset but recovered well to take the second and level the score. The third game was over in a flash and it looked like the fourth would go the same way with Rakesh leading 8 - 0 before David rallied briefly to make it 8 - 7 before succumbing to the inevitable. Digging balls out of the back corner isn't enough, you've got to be able to bury them at the front, too. The final score was 9 - 4, 6 - 9, 9 - 2, 9 - 7 as these old duffers venerable gentlemen of the court elected to play under English scoring rules.

The evening was brought to a close with the final of the Veterans' Tournament which saw Stewart Hefferman add an eighth title to his impressive haul by beating Michael Burnett 3 - 0. Michael pushed Stewart all the way in a close opening game but then struggled to make his shots count over the next two games. The match ended 14 - 12, 11 - 6, 11 - 6. It was a tough night for Michael and disappointing also for headline writers with the prospect of using puns on Burnett's Night but having to resort to porn titles.

Pauline Bagg won the final of the Gerrards Cross Squash Club Ladies' Tournament on Sunday 21 March to become the first Ladies' Champion since 2009 beating Nina Singh in the process. The 9 - 5, 9 - 1, 9 - 1 scoreline tells the tale of the match where, after a relatively close first game, Nina was unable to sufficiently trouble Pauline for the remainder of the match. There were plenty of well contested rallies but Nina gave Pauline a little too much room to play and so she collected most of the points.

Well done to both finalists, congratulations to Pauline and comiserations to Nina and here's hoping we don't have to wait aanother 6 years for the next Ladies Champion to be crowned.