Wales v England
The first round was against always-strong England, with Martin Vicary opening proceedings against Robert Houldsworth. Martin played with good pace and movement, but conceded too many points from loose shots, enabling the solid England captain to run out a 3-0 winner. At 3rd string, Graham Bastian took on the known hard-hitter, John Hithersay. However, John has obviously developed a more varied game which includes using the height of the court more and varying the pace. It made for a good match as both players found good length and took their attacking opportunities, John winning the first, Graham the second. From there, John took control with some very accurate squash, particularly on the backhand, and won the match 3-1. Well played both. Next was the 1st string clash, Tony Bevan v Stuart Hardy. This was a tight match, with both players going for many high-risk shots, resulting in short rallies and a lot of mistakes. Stuart edged each of the games which might have left Tony feeling that a more patient strategy may have seen him exert more control and take advantage of his superior court coverage. At 4th string Kwesi Hazel came up against David Matthew. All the games were close fought, but once David had worked out how to deal with Kwesi’s touch game, he had the ammunition to counter it and won 3-0. Last on were the 2nd strings Clive Morgan and Ian Graham. Clive came out of the blocks quickly and played some great squash to take the first 2 games. However, Ian is a multiple national champion for a reason and, with some advice from his corner, changed to more attacking tactics, including some very accurate boasts whenever he had the chance. He managed to turn the momentum his way and ran out a just-about-deserved 3-2 winner. So, a 5-0 match defeat for Wales and time to regroup for Saturday.
Wales v Ireland
Another strong-looking team to face for Wales. Alan James came into the side at No. 5 and met Robert Garvin. The court was a little cooler than the previous evening and, with neither player using much pace, the ball wasn’t warming up, making length-hitting more difficult. Robert quickly won the first but, after upping his game, Alan took the second. Unfortunately, disaster struck for Alan as he pulled a hamstring near the start of the 3rd game and had to retire. Get well soon, Alan. Graham was facing the very agile Pat Hanley at No. 3. Pat edged a tight first game before increasing his lead to 2-0. Graham was playing well though and fought back to take the third. Pat then put in a flawless game to close out a good match 3-1. Tony was up against the top-ranked O70s man, Kyran Hurley. This was a good quality match with some great rallies, shots and movement. Every game was closely fought but Tony was unable to get over the line in any, so a 3-0 victory for Kyran. Next on was Martin, who was facing a very strong looking No. 4 in Peter Stephens, but Martin has been striking the ball well and won the first game 11-8. After that, Peter lived up to his billing and won the next three games despite a good showing from Martin. Last on was Clive against Bert Cotter. Bert moves quickly and well. He took the first game in a flash, 11-3. Clive then settled into the match but missed opportunities to draw level in the second. From there, Bert confidently closed out the third 11-6 for a 3-0 win, with a number of tight boasts proving to be deciding factors. As in his previous match, Clive will be regretting not getting forward consistently. Another 5-0 (20-3) defeat, albeit against the probable favourites for the title, but a great effort from everyone and some rough luck for Alan, who might well have won his match.
Wales v Scotland
This was to be the wooden spoon match as Scotland had also lost its first two games. With Alan ruled out, Martin began against Colin Cruickshank. Martin looked the more mobile but Colin controlled the ball well and took a close first game 12-10. Martin then tightened up his game and always looked in charge as he won the next three for a 3-1 victory. A good start for the team. Graham was next on against Emilio Fazzi. Emilio has excellent racket skills and has often played at 1st string for his country. Graham continued his good length and court movement and took the first game 11-9. Emilio was forced to change to a higher-risk strategy, attacking whenever he could. Unfortunately for Graham, it paid off, as Emilio won the match 3-1. Tony was next on against Ian Ross. This has always been a good match-up. Tony took the first 14-12 before Ian raced through the second 11-3. Tony wasn’t to be denied though, as he closed out the next two tight games 11-9. This had been a good match. Wales 2-1 up now. Kwesi went on against Dave Sturman with the chance to win the tie for Wales. This was a tense see-sawing match, Kwesi going 0-1 down, then 2-1 up before Dave levelled things at 2-2. Who would win the 5th? Unfortunately, Dave seemed to have the momentum and came through 11-5. Bad luck, Kwesi. The final match of the weekend to come next, with the result of the tie and final positions depending on it. No pressure then for Clive and Keith Hobson! As it was, Clive seemed to hit a purple patch from the start and played his best squash of the weekend, shutting out Keith and winning 3-0. Sometimes it goes like that. So, a 3-2 victory for Wales and no wooden spoon. The title went to Ireland, whose victory over England put the hosts in second place. Wales finished 3rd with Scotland 4th.
Despite not finishing higher in the table, this was a creditable Welsh showing against strong opposition. Everyone performed well and contributed to our points tally. As last year in Dublin, we were left feeling that the scores didn’t always do justice to our performances, though there could be no arguing with the final positions. Off court, it was a very good weekend, renewing links with many old friends and making some new ones. The organisation of the event was excellent, with much thanks due to the England Squash Masters team. Finally, our best wishes go to Scotland’s Richard Campbell, who suffered a stroke after playing on Friday. We hope you make a good recovery, Richard.
