During the week of 5th – 9th February, 9 Welsh players entered the iPROSPORTS British National Masters Squash Championships at Colets Club, Thames Ditton. An excellent representation from our Masters players yielded 2 winners, 1 runner up, 2 semi-finalists and a wealth of well fought 5-setters!
Winners
WO35
Current Welsh Masters Champion and senior squad player Stacey Gooding was the outstanding favourite in the WO35 event. Stacey lived up to her reputation and proved too good for everyone. Winning the title without dropping a game. Congratulations Stacey!
WO35 Winner: Stacey Gooding (Wal)
WO55 – Following this, the WO55 final was a Wales vs Scotland affair with Welsh Masters Champion and current British Open Masters Champion Helen Barnard taking on Scottish Masters champion Donna Cruickshank. Barnard took charge of the match in the first two games but Scottish resilience held to extend the contest as the Scot hit back to take the third 11/9. Helen rallied, showing great composure to close out the fourth and claim the title! Congratulations Helen, another title to add to an excellent collection this year!
WO55 Winner: Helen Barnard (Wal)
Contenders
Throughout the other categories there were plenty of valiant performances. In the WO65, Wendy Norris and Lynne Davies flew the flag for Wales. Unfortunately, both met fierce competition in the shape of strong English opposition Lesley Sturgess. Wendy bowed out in the quarterfinals whilst Lynne was defeated in the semis.
The MO35 saw Ben Murphy reach the plate final but despite strong coaching pedigree in his corner was unable to come out on top against strong English opposition.
Our highest proportion of representation came in the MO60. Gary Hales fought tooth and nail in the first round losing narrowly 12-10 in the fifth. Ian Fenner Evans made sure he got his money’s worth, taking his first two matches to 5 sets before losing out to the 2nd seed 3-1 in the quarter finals. Richard Murphy displayed some stella performances dropping only 1 game before going down 3-1 in the semi-final to eventual winner Eamonn Price. Our final contender, Steve Evans in the MO55, was seeded 2 and expected to go deep into the tournament. Steve met fierce competition in his quarter final match, needing to fight back from 2-0 down. Following stern words from compatriot, Fenner-Evans, Steve rallied and won the match in 5. Steve was then rewarded with another five-setter in the semi-final that lasted 50 minutes and saw him come out on top. The final unfortunately proved a step to far for Evans who finished runner up to Englishman Stephen McLoughlin in a very competitive category.
MO55 Final: Steve Evans (Wal) and his opponent Stephen McLoughlin (Eng).
Congratulations and thank you to all of our players for proudly representing Wales in the British National Championships.
