ORANGE SQUASH GYA OPEN 2011 STARTS YEAR WITH BANG

words by Damian Burgess,

Glan Yr Afon Leisure in Cwmbran again played host to its annual squash championships, now in it’s third year. The competition has grown since it first began in 2009 with 16 entrants in the first year, last year the 2010 event attracted players from further afield and had 30 entrants. This years event was by far the best event in it’s short history, 40 entrants with 9 of them south Wales Premier Squash players.

Christmas and New Year had long gone and the snow had left us too, if not for a small flurry on the morning of the first day of the competition to bring panic to the tournament director Damian Burgess. In the 24 hours leading up to the first serve 9 people had withdrawn from the event, some with flu, others with injuries or work commitments. Luckily there was a strong reserve list and 8 of the spaces were filled along with one unlucky/lucky entrant playing in two grades to fill up any blank spaces.

The competition began on the Friday evening with first round matches in the C and B draws, number 1 seed Greg Dainty of UWIC in the B draw cruised through the first round along with number 2 seed Sophie York from Swansea. Saturday morning saw the start of the A draw and all the seeds made it through in this one, all the competitors were happy to get some squash under their belts after the Christmas break along with seeing old faces from the squash scene in south Wales. The big shock of the Saturday came in the A grade Quarter Final where number 1 seed Harry Booth crashed out 3 – 1 to Joe Broad of String, Swansea. Joe played exceptionally well but had he peaked too soon? All other seeds made it through to the Semi Finals in the A draw.

Sunday was Finals day, players were playing off for each position from 9.30 in the morning and the competition was fierce through out the grades. An early Final in the C grade saw Brett Nowell of Cwmbran edge out teammate Russell Wilkins. The B Final was to be contested between the number 1 and 2 seeds after they made it through their semi finals. In the A grade number 2 Neal Brooker of UWIC was knocked out in the Semi Final 3 – 2 by number 3 seed Huw Griffiths of Strings, Swansea. In the other semi a tired looking Joe Broad lost to number 4 seed Ian Fenner-Evans of Caldicot 3 – 0.

The B Final included some great squash and both players dug deep in front of the crowds on Court 2 at the club. Sophie York looked tired after 3 days of squash and was beaten 3 – 0 by Greg Dainty who had had the easier route to the Final.

In the A Final two premier players would face off, Strings v Caldicot, Youth v Experience, Huw Griffiths v Ian Fenner-Evans. The games were tied at 1 – 1 and both players looked to move each

other off the T and gain some control of the match, after putting Huw under a lot of pressure Ian was rewarded with some uncharacteristic unforced errors from Huw. After 58 minutes on court the new orangesquash Glan Yr Afon Open Champion 2011 was Ian Fenner-Evans, taking the match 3 – 1. A well deserved winner who played very consistently throughout the competition. Here are some words from Ian Fenner-Evans “ A players perspective...

The majority of players complained of the turkey, stuffing, chocolate, wine, beer and general Christmas excesses as they dusted off their squash kit for the first tournament of 2011. However, I am sure all were secretly grateful for the opportunity of some calorie burning, and in this respect the Orange Squash GYA Open did not disappoint. The monrad format was a real success with the majority of players saying how much they enjoyed playing 3 or 4 matches. This said, some players were left begging for mercy and were heard to say at the end - "I can't take any more!".

There was a great atmosphere at the club with plenty of support for the matches and friendly banter exchanged. The feedback from all players was that this was an excellent event enjoyed by everyone. Several factors contributed to this success and the players would like to thank Chris Naye for the non-stop marking, the Glan yr Afon club for its warm welcome and use of its facilities, and finally Damian Burgess for his organisation and tireless efforts to ensure the event took place and ran efficiently and to time. A great event - thank you.”

Joe Broad, said "The Glan Yr Afon tournament was a big success this year with a strong field of players. The competition was run very smoothly, with a great friendly atmosphere. With a lack of senior tournaments in south wales this was a great chance to get some competitive matches in before the start of the squash wales season. This tournament should definitely be a permanent fixture in the squash wales calendar!"

Thank you all for attending this competition; thank you to Glan Yr Afon Club on being great hosts, the staff at the club, to Chris Neye on Refereeing all weekend, anyone else who helped with refereeing and thank you, the players who turned up.

If you did miss out this year not to worry, we will again be working hard next year to bring you another bigger and better event. From Damian Burgess and Orange Squash, Thank you again.

www.orangesquash.me.uk