Words by Damian Burgess 1.3.2011
On the weekend of February 25th – 27th juniors and seniors came from all over south Glamorgan for the annual South Glamorgan Closed Championships at Rhiwbina Squash Club.
The competition was originally split in to 3 grades in the men’s and a ladies event, then the competition organiser Byron Lloyd Lewis decided to combine the A and B men’s events to make a larger 16 draw. The pressure was on some of the A grade players now.
Damian Burgess was one of the first matches on court playing Joe Broad who plays west in Strings Squash, Swansea but lives in Cardiff. The match went the distance and finished after an hour with Joe winning 3 – 2, 12 -10 in the fifth and final game, if this was a sign of things to come then we were in for a treat.
Also in the A grade was Jason Burgon who has recently moved from playing at Llantwit Fardre to now play for Rhiwbina so he was on home courts, and it made the difference against the talented Tej Singh from UWIC. Jason’s former team mate Paul Aubrey was also on court, he was up against Chris Adrian of the Vale, Chris had too much for Paul in the latter stages of the games and came through winning 3 – 1. Other players through to the next round were Daniel Anderson, Ross James Jenner, Bleddyn Davies and Dallas Hayvice.
In the now B event (former C event) junior Harri Jones progressed to the next round with a 3 – 2 win over Richard Melhuish, Ian Charles also was through after a 3 – 2 win over Rhiwbina Club Coach Bob Perry. Del Lewis also made it to the next round with a 3 – 1 win over John Giles.
In the B event Dave Godfrey went passed Ian Charles to reach the Final and Del Lewis came from two games down to win an epic match against Tray Brown, a great performance from the two players.
In the B Plate Final it was an all Rhiwbina affair with Bob Perry taking on Dewi Thomas, Bob Perry eventually winning it 3 – 0, a busy weekend for Bob who was not only playing but also coaching and was back and fourth to Rhondda for the Development day, a great effort.
In the A event Paul Barrell of St Mellons made it through past Ross Jenner of Rhiwbina 3 – 1, Joe Broad eased passed Bleddyn Davies of UWIC 3 – 0, Dallas Hayvice was too awkward for Chris Adrian and a big surprise in the last Quarter Final as originally B graded Jason Burgon looked like he was trying to prove people wrong beating number 2 seed Daniel Anderson 3 – 2 in a great match.
On to Day 2 of the event and it was Semi Final and Final Day, as well as the main event we also had the pleasure of the plate which threw up some great matches, Paul Aubrey narrowly losing to Tej Singh in the Plate Semi Final of the A and Matthew Lloyd Lewis also narrowly losing out 3 – 2 to Damian Burgess in the other Semi Final. In the main Semi Finals Dallas Hayvice came from two games down to beat the in form Jason Burgon 3 – 2, in the other Semi a great display of retrieval from Joe Broad led him to a 3 – 1 win over number 1 seed Paul Barrell.
In the A Plate Final Damian Burgess was taking on the talented Tej Singh of UWIC, the match was first tied at 1 – 1 then 2 – 2, Tej eventually winning the very entertaining match 11-9 in the fifth and final game.
Dave Godfrey was the favourite going into the B Final and had had the easier path not dropping one game on his way to the final, this wasn’t to change in the final match where he beat Del Lewis 3 – 0.
In the A Final it was a similar story Joe Broad was up against Dallas Hayvice, both had very different paths to the Final but there was only one winner. Joe started fast and did not let up until the final point of the third game, 3 – 0 and a deserved winner.
In the women’s event Sian Johnson beat Lynner Davies in the Final, a repeat of the Welsh National Championship Over 50 final between the two. Sian again came out on top to take the South Glamorgan Title.
Well done to all who entered, thanks all for the support, same again next year? A big thank you to Chris Rees, Peter Bridgman and Bob Perry on refereeing and of course Byron Lloyd Lewis on running the event, always with a smile on his face. Also a big thank you to Rhiwbina Squash Club for the courts and Orange Squash for the shirts.
Last but not least thank you to Rob Wilde on taking some great photos. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE GREAT PICS
Words by Damian Burgess, Press Officer Squash Wales
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