This year once again Old Belvedere will host its annual post-Christmas tournament. This year’s event helps celebrate 50 years of Old Belvedere club.
We look forward to seeing you there and wish all players the best of luck.
[wpsqt name="Squash Coach Survey" type="survey"]
In preparation for the British Junior Open 2013 we are hosting a squash camp led by Angus Kirkland (UK CC Level 3), Former world No. 19, Over 20+ years coaching experience) and Derek Ryan (The former Irish No 1 and world No. 7, played 200+ caps for Ireland) and assisted by other coaches as required.
The training will cover: Technical skill, tactical skill, nutrition, strength and conditioning as well as match play
The maximum number of participants is 12 – on a strictly first come first served basis.
Cost: 150 euro
If you wish to sign up to this camp, please send the following details to [email protected] before 19th of December — and include your name, age, contact details (mobile) and ranking.
The weekend of the 30th-2nd December was a busy one for junior squads.
With 27 juniors and their coaches been coached by the national coach, Hadrian Stiff in Cork and National Squads for U11’s to U 17’s under Paul Bell and Graeme Stewart in both the Leinster Cricket Club and Mount Pleasant. A total of 32 juniors were involved in the national squad with some local coaches also attending. Paul and Graeme were very impressed with the new group of U11’s that took part.
Many thanks to Mount Pleasant LTC and Leinster Cricket Club for making their facilities available.
A combined U19’s and ladies only squad will take place in Mount Pleasant on 8th December with Angus Kirkland.
Irish Squash also hosted a junior squad in Cork – in Highfield Manor club last weekend a total of 27 juniors (23 Munster / 4 Connacht) with all sessions running to schedule.
Everyone enjoyed the sessions which were energetic and informative and Hadrian worked with the local coaches throughout the weekend.
Many thanks to all those who travelled for the day to get to the session and especially the parents and coaches who took part and volunteered their time to help – and a big thank you to Highfield Manor for the use of their facilities during the weekend – their generosity in helping with the Junior Development programme and in providing courts makes a huge difference. Thank you.
Henry Gillanders
Junior Secretary
The 2012 Irish Junior Open was played the weekend Friday 23rd – 25th November at Belfast Boat Club and Windsor Tennis Club Belfast. 116 competitors took part travelling from mainland Europe,UK andIreland playing in Girls and Boys category’s U13, 15, 17 and 19.
The U13 Boys competition was won by Adam ReidScotlandclosely followed by Lewis Southward England. The U13 girls was eventually one by the Spanish Number 1 Ingrid Ruiz Anta after a thrilling 5 setter Ellie McVeigh (Ballynafeigh)
Oisin Dunne (Sutton Dublin) came from 2 games down to defeat Richard Hollins from Scotland to win the boys Under 15, with Stephanie Ryan (Sutton Dublin) defeated by the impressive Cristina Gomez Jimenez in the girls U15 section.
The 17 Boys was an allIrelandclash and a great example of quality squash. David Ryan (Sutton Dublin) playedUlster’s Michael Craig (David Lloyds). The match was played over 75 minutes with David winning 3 1 in the end. The Girls was won by Kirsty Lobban (Scotland) with Lowri Roberts’s runner up.
Ireland had more success in the Under 19’s, Sean Conroy ( Leinster) defeated Douglas Macmillan (Scotland) with Breanne Flynn (Sutton Dublin) defeating Alvide Sonja (Norway) in the final.
An excellent weekend of Squash, and many thanks to all the players, parents and supporters for making the Tournament a memorable and successful event.
Arlene McVeigh
Below are some photos of the winners and runners up:
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ESF – European Squash Federation hold annual championships for junior players up to the age of 18. ESF also arrange the European Junior Circuit a series of 23 events across Europe for young squash players.Would you like to take part in the French, Welsh or German Junior Opens during 2013 ?
Please send an email if you are interested on or before the 14th December by clicking here
Calendar for all the Junior ESF events for 2013 can be found here
Irish Junior Open kicks off this weekend in Belfast. Best of luck to all those taking part!
Updated 22nd November – please review
Players should note that playing times are subject to change and that players need to check back regularly to ensure their times have not changed. Players should also be aware that the venue for their first match will not necessary be the venue for all their matches.
Zoe Hall and Arthur Gaskin - happy winners of the Leinster Open 2012
As some of you might know, over the last years a PSA and WISPA event often accompanied the Leinster Open, and I am sure many players appreciated being able to watch professionals at play. This year, unfortunately, there was no professional event, but the quality of squash on finals day was very high anyway, and I enjoyed both A-finals as much as any professional finals I have seen recently.
Ciara Maloney started proceedings on the show court, beating Claire O’Neill in a repeat of the Munster Open final, and therewith claiming third place. In parallel Stevie Richardson beat hard-hitting Nigel Peyton on court 2, winning 3:1. Like I said in an earlier post, I don’t think I have ever seen Stevie victim of an upset, and once again he withstood Peyton’s onslaught of hard short kills, in the first three games, and then took the fourth game easily.
Since I hadn’t managed to see any of the women’s games throughout the weekend I made a point of watching the women’s finals between Zoe Hall and Tanya Owens. Since I am not as familiar with Irish women’s squash as with men’s, I wasn’t sure who was the favourite, but both had 3:0 wins in the semis and I had watched both play before, and I expected an evenly contested match. And from the outset the match was marked by plentiful of variations: cross-court lobs, trickle boasts, cross-court drops, and deft killers form the backcourt. Add to that good mobility by both women, and you have a plethora of entertaining rallies. Zoe took the first and Tanya was up in the second, holding two game balls. But Zoe battled back and took the second in a tie-break, leaving Tanya with plenty of work in the third. Zoe has a delightful lob serve form her forehand, which troubled Tanya all day, and when Tanya hit an almost perfect cross-court lob at 6:4 in game three, only for Zoe to return it with a perfect boast into the nick, Tanya must have realised it just wasn’t to be today. And so Zoe wrapped up a tight 3:0 win, taking the Leinster Open title.
Arthur Gaskin and Derek Ryan have played each other plenty of times, and while Ryan used to have the upper hand on his younger compatriot, it’s been Gaskin who lately has been winning all matches. With Derek having to run the tournament as well, I expected a short favour in favour of Arthur, though I do recall players commenting that Derek has had plenty of hard matches over recent months in the Squash Legends series, a good preparation when facing players of Gaskin calibre.
Gaskin started on the front foot and eased to a comfortable lead, though half way into the first Ryan started finding his shots. Too little too late and Gaskin took the first. Game two was closer and even though Gaskin held two game balls, it was Derek who took the game in the tie-break. Arthur had initially been tormenting Derek with plenty of play to the front-court, but now Derek was in full flow and picking up shots at the front and returning them with interest. Arthur was not happy! Game three, as so often, was the match decider and and you can see the entire game here (12:57mins):
Okay, for those of you not sitting through the entertaining game three: Arthur won it coming back form 3:7 down, and then tied the fourth up by a larger margin. In any case, it was a great match featuring plenty of fantastic shots, great court coverage and pick-ups, occasional discussions with the referees, and a thoroughly entertained crowd. (Dan Zilic)
Zoe Hall and Arthur Gaskin - happy winners of the Leinster Open 2012
As some of you might know, over the last years a PSA and WISPA event often accompanied the Leinster Open, and I am sure many players appreciated being able to watch professionals at play. This year, unfortunately, there was no professional event, but the quality of squash on finals day was very high anyway, and I enjoyed both A-finals as much as any professional finals I have seen recently.
Ciara Maloney started proceedings on the show court, beating Claire O’Neill in a repeat of the Munster Open final, and therewith claiming third place. In parallel Stevie Richardson beat hard-hitting Nigel Peyton on court 2, winning 3:1. Like I said in an earlier post, I don’t think I have ever seen Stevie victim of an upset, and once again he withstood Peyton’s onslaught of hard short kills, in the first three games, and then took the fourth game easily.
Since I hadn’t managed to see any of the women’s games throughout the weekend I made a point of watching the women’s finals between Zoe Hall and Tanya Owens. Since I am not as familiar with Irish women’s squash as with men’s, I wasn’t sure who was the favourite, but both had 3:0 wins in the semis and I had watched both play before, and I expected an evenly contested match. And from the outset the match was marked by plentiful of variations: cross-court lobs, trickle boasts, cross-court drops, and deft killers form the backcourt. Add to that good mobility by both women, and you have a plethora of entertaining rallies. Zoe took the first and Tanya was up in the second, holding two game balls. But Zoe battled back and took the second in a tie-break, leaving Tanya with plenty of work in the third. Zoe has a delightful lob serve form her forehand, which troubled Tanya all day, and when Tanya hit an almost perfect cross-court lob at 6:4 in game three, only for Zoe to return it with a perfect boast into the nick, Tanya must have realised it just wasn’t to be today. And so Zoe wrapped up a tight 3:0 win, taking the Leinster Open title.
Arthur Gaskin and Derek Ryan have played each other plenty of times, and while Ryan used to have the upper hand on his younger compatriot, it’s been Gaskin who lately has been winning all matches. With Derek having to run the tournament as well, I expected a short favour in favour of Arthur, though I do recall players commenting that Derek has had plenty of hard matches over recent months in the Squash Legends series, a good preparation when facing players of Gaskin calibre.
Gaskin started on the front foot and eased to a comfortable lead, though half way into the first Ryan started finding his shots. Too little too late and Gaskin took the first. Game two was closer and even though Gaskin held two game balls, it was Derek who took the game in the tie-break. Arthur had initially been tormenting Derek with plenty of play to the front-court, but now Derek was in full flow and picking up shots at the front and returning them with interest. Arthur was not happy! Game three, as so often, was the match decider and and you can see the entire game here (12:57mins):
Okay, for those of you not sitting through the entertaining game three: Arthur won it coming back form 3:7 down, and then tied the fourth up by a larger margin. In any case, it was a great match featuring plenty of fantastic shots, great court coverage and pick-ups, occasional discussions with the referees, and a thoroughly entertained crowd. (Dan Zilic)
Fluffy free towels: player's favourite at Fitz
When I left Fitzwilliam yesterday night I realised once again that I had forgotten to take pictures from any players, so on the way out I took a picture of one of my favourite things at Fitz, namely the free towels in the changing rooms. Coming from Germany, I can safely say that the Squash club scene there is entirely different and we have no club like Fitz, let alone one where you get free, freshly washed towels, so every time I play here it’s one of those small things I (and from speaking to them, many other players too) really enjoy.
On to the squash: After missing them again, tournament director Derek Ryan let me know that third and fourth seed Tanya Owens and Zoe Hall will be playing today’s finals, after beating Claire O’Neill and Ciara Moloney, both from Carlow, respectively. At this stage also congratulations to the Irish women’s team, finishing in sixth place at the World Team Champs in Nimes, France.
Aforementioned Tournament Director Derek Ryan is once again not only organising, but also playing, and is facing Arthur Gaskin in the finals. Arthur Gaskin beat Stevie Richardson on the show court by three games to love, while Derek got past club mate Nigel Peyton in four. I only got to see the one game, which was a real forth and back with several game balls on both sides, and Derek took that one 15:13. Arthur, as far as I can recall, is unbeaten by an Irish player in a while now, and seems to currently have well eclipsed his competitors playing the Irish Grand Prix, making him a clear favourite for today.
Only other match I saw was an enthralling match between two of Ireland’s top junior players, Michael Craig and Sean Conroy. Michael is playing a blinder of a tournament and after winning the second 15:13, secured a very impressive 3:0 win over his junior compatriot. Reward is a 9/10 play-off match against fellow Northern Irish Connor O’Hare. (Dan Z.)
