Tennis legend
Roger Federer is backing Squash to be added to the Olympic Games programme in 2020.
“I think it’s a wonderful sport. It’s unfortunate some sports don’t get the opportunity to be in the Olympics,” said Federer. “I think squash would deserve it. They run a great tour and they have great players and characters. I’d personally be very happy for them.”
The 17-time major champion had the opportunity to meet women’s squash world No1 Nicol David at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. Federer expressed his support to David and revealed he played the sport growing up.
“I used to play it a lot when I was younger every Sunday with my dad,” Federer said. “I started with a wooden racquet like I did in tennis. I’ve always been a big fan of the sport.”
Federer and David conversed over dinner. David, a native of Malaysia and resident of Amsterdam, was thrilled to spend quality time with the Swiss superstar.
“It was exciting. He’s such a great guy and true champion,” said David. “He’s so down to earth. He showed us what it’s like behind the scenes to be a tennis player.
“It’s very similar to squash,” added the 29-year-old from Penang who has topped the women’s world rankings since August 2006. “So it’s been great to spend time with him.”
When asked if she played tennis, David said: “I’m a tennis fan but not a player. I follow Roger’s progress and he definitely brings the sport up to another level.”
World Squash Federation President N Ramachandran was delighted by the tennis star’s endorsement: “It is fantastic to have Roger Federer supporting Squash’s campaign to join the Olympic Sports Programme.
“His endorsement means a great deal because he is a true sporting icon who knows what it means to compete at the Olympic Games.”
Modern Pentathlon survived yesterday’s International Olympic Committee vote on the sports to play a part in the 2020 Games. The one that has to fight for its place alongside seven other prospective sports is wrestling.
The amateur sport which features in the Olympic Games and has done so since the 8th century has been overtaken by the brash professional version in recent years.
There are around a dozen clubs in operation around the country and Ireland does have an Olympic heritage sending Gerry Mortina to the 1956 and 1960 Games where he came fourth as well as a number of other competitors down the years.
The sport is presently strongest in the US where it has a strong college base and there will be a likely surge to retain its position when that choice is made in Argentina in the autumn. Among the sports battling to replace it is Squash. The sport made an important choice yesterday in creating parity of prize money between the men’s and women’s events at the US Open this year.
Equality is important within the Olympic movement with new sports only chosen if they offer equal access to both sexes. The greater reach of Sevens Rugby among women was a determining factor in that variant of the sport being chosen to make its Olympic bow at Rio in three years time.
Reproduced from ‘Sport for Business’, February 13th 2013
Intervarsity rivalry will be heating up this weekend as hosts DCU Squash Club and Frank Donnelly take on the mammoth task of organising the 2013 Squash Intervarsities Competition between the 15th – 16th February. The event is sponsored by Campus Property Ltd and Irish Squash.
115 Students from eight universities – DCU, UCD, TCD, RCSI, UCC, NUIG, Queen University Belfast and University of Ulster will be competing throughout the weekend.
Matches will be played in the DCU sports complex and ALSAA sports complex with competition beginning on Friday 15th at 1pm in DCU. Matches will conclude by 7pm on Saturday 16th.
Irish Squash would like to wish all the players the best of luck and we look forward to some great matches!
World No.1 David, took on a confident No.8 seed Ireland’s Madeline Perry, who impressed crowds with her enthusiasm early on in the tie. Maintaining a high-pace, the Irishwoman kept her opponent moving, and found a tight working drop to put the pressure on David in the early exchanges. The Malaysian was happy to wait for her own opportunities however, and countered Perry’s efforts at the halfway point to stretch out a lead for the first game.
The second game saw a similar pattern as Perry raced out of the blocks, cutting the ball short and making David scramble to retrieve. Again at the halfway point, David began to assert herself on the court. Intricate line and length combined with precision drop shots gives the Malaysian a two game lead.
Perry again starts the new game powerfully, an increased pace followed by some accurate short play gave the experienced Irishwoman a four-point lead early on. Varying her short and long shots, she slowly adds to her lead with David struggling to find her foothold in the match. ‘Resilient’ is one word to describe the world No.12 in this game, and she certainly deserved a comeback game.
David gathered her composure in between games, and returned to court refocused as she took an early lead. She slowly added to her lead as the rallies progressed, denying Perry any cheap points and making the Irishwoman work for every inch. Perry hit the tin to give her opponent match ball, before deep crosscourt nick ends the contest in the Malaysian’s favour.
Final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY)
Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [8] Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7
[2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [3] Alison Waters (ENG) 11-9, 11-9, 11-5
If you are lucky enough to be representing Ireland in Squash you will shortly be able to wear the latest new designs – shown below. All of this sportswear is manufactured using the latest high performance fabrics ensuring breathability, perspiration transfer and evaporation and comfort. The New National kit is provided by Samurai Sportswear and will also be available to purchase online through the Irish Squash website.
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Laura Mylotte and Breanne Flynn: just about to start proceedings
Like I said in yesterday’s post, Mount Pleasant LTC is a great club. And it is a particularly great club when, thanks to some magnificent windows, the bar is basked in glorious sunshine. Which was the case today, at least for a few hours!
I only got to the club at 1pm to play my Men’s A 9th place play-off match against Michael Craig. I lost 3:0, mainly because Michael happened to virtually pick all of my best shots up with interest (a lot of interest). Before that there was a tough match between Neal Pollock and Neil Murphy; Murphy, as he does so often, toughed it out 3:2. Both were B-draw players who, thanks to the new mode, made it through to the A-draw. On another court Sam Olwill impressed the crowd with an array of spectacular shots, which turned out to be just about enough to get past Paul Linehan. Olwill and Murphy therewith both finished 13th in the A-draw.
Now, on to the finals: the ladies were on court first and I watched parts of the first two games. Laura Mylotte was playing at full steam, hitting powerful kill shots from all over the court, and Breanne Flynn had no weapon to counter with. Flynn managed to extend the rallies more in game two and took a 5:2 lead, but Mylotte’s relentless hitting let her catch up the three points difference, and she pretty much didn’t look back after that, taking the final 3:0. She therewith completed a spectacular run of not dropping a single game throughout the tournament – I guess that’s what you call a romp!
Derek Ryan, a real pro at giving winning speeches!
The big question was whether or not this – the current Irish champion losing – was a bad omen for Derek Ryan in the men’s final. At first the answer was no: Derek was magnificent in the first game against third seed Steve Richardson, taking it comfortably 11:3 and being in full control. But while there was much to admire with Derek’s game, Steve will have been disappointed with himself for making it just that small bit too easy in game one. Steve came back strongly in game two, which proved to be really tough. Steve has a lovely lunge on his backhand with which he picked up virtually all backhand drops and boasts of Derek, always making the next shot a hard one for Derek. Ryan snatched the game in a tie-break but that took its toll, and the third was all Steve. Game four was a nail-biter, and the tension on court grew, with the referee becoming more and more involved. There were a lot of hard calls to make and both players seemed to be disappointed in the referee’s decision-making every once in a while, but the match was played in a good spirit all in all. Derek held a matchball that Steve saved like a champion, and he then went on to win the tie-breaker. The fifth game continued at a super standard and at 6:3 up Steve looked to be running away with it. However, he got upset with one refereeing call and lost focus slightly, giving Ryan a path back into the game. 9:9, then 10:9 Richardson, but Ryan saved the matchball with a wonderful cross-court, hit at full stretch from backcourt. In the end Derek (who received a slightly comical conduct warning for time-wasting) took game five again in another tie-breaker and followed up his national championship title with the Mount Pleasant Open title.
Aidan Coppinger: thanklessly refereeing the loneliest match, aka. the one being played in parallel to the final!
It’s been a wonderful few days of Squash here in Dublin, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty more of great Squash to come in 2013! What’s particularly pleasing to see is a high amount of juniors who are really beginning to challenge for the front places, and most likely for spots in the national team over the year. Lastly, a big thank you to the crew here at Mount Pleasant (particularly Aidan Coppinger and Henry Gillanders) who put on another fabulous tournament. – Dan Z.
David Ryan serves against Conor O'Hare in the 5-8 play-off match
Not a good day for the top three seeds in the women’s competition: third seed Stephanie Ryan fell victim to Laura Mylotte in round one already yesterday, and today number two seed Ciara Moloney followed. Mylotte dispatched of her in straight games, the third game going to a tie-break. In the top half of the draw the number one seed Griffin Gillanders was taken out by the same scoreline by Irish champion Breanne Flynn; Flynn requiring two tie-breakers. Not often you see the fourteenth seed make her way to the finals, especially without dropping a game in the progress. But, Laura hasn’t been active in the Irish Grand Prix, which explains her ranking, and I think she enters the tomorrow’s final (1:30pm) as slight favourite.
In the Men’s A proceedings were a bit more straight forward: number one seed and clear tournament favourite Derek Ryan beat club team mate Nigel Peyton in the quarters and Sligoman Keith Moran in the semis. Both times Ryan recorded 3:0 victories, and similar to Mylotte and Flynn, is yet to drop a game. I got to watch some of the match, and Derek looks to be in good shape, playing with his usual spins, tricks, and perfectly weighted length. Keith never quite looked like he’d be a danger to Derek, but made a good game out of it and played some beautiful kill shots of his own.
That's how many draws you need for 88 registered tournament entries
Ryan’s opponent’s path to the final was similarly straight forward: Steve Richardson was facing Brian Byrne in what promised to be a tight match between the two and three seed. In the quarterfinals Steve Richardson had beaten Ulsterman O’Hare in three, while Byrne’s mettle was tested against yesterday’s hero David Ryan, where, in a tough five-setter, Byrne prevailed 11-6 in the fifth. Two of my friends came along to watch today, and both spoke admirably about the match, being particularly impressed with the court coverage and speed on show. Anyway, unfortunately I couldn’t watch the match between Steve and Brian, but Steve won 3:0.
So, both finals, men and women, could be close tomorrow with all four players scoring perfect records so far: three matches played, zero games dropped! And you know what, if one club is worthy of some great finals, it’s Mount Pleasant LTC – in my opinion one of Ireland’s very finest Squash clubs! Dan. Z. (former Mt. P. member 😉
Unspectacular on paper: Ryan's & Craig's 80 minute marathon
The 2013 Irish Squash season fittingly kicked off with a memorable encounter between two stars of the future: Michael Craig of Ulster and David Ryan of Leinster. Both are 16 years old and are amongst the very top players in their age group in Europe, if not the world. Judging by today’s match, this could shape up to be a great rivalry over the next decade, and it will be intriguing to see how it develops. Today, David Ryan came out on top. He is the more steady of the two, with an intimidating physical side to his powerful game, while Craig plays with some panache! He was 2:0 down and clawed the third game back, but after holding game balls in the fourth, he succumbed in a brutal fourth game tie-break that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Incidentally, Craig and Ryan played an 80 minute match, which was longer than my match against Sean Conroy (I lost 3:0) and Kevin Moore against Connor O’Hare (Connor won 3:1) put together: we played on the parallel court.
Bryan Byrne, not at all distracted by O'Shea's piercing orange t-shirt!
Tomorrow David will be facing Bryan Byrne, who dispatched of Connor O’Shea in three tough games, which Dalibor Panic refereed with help of his fancy IPhone app (see picture). As fit as David is, I do think he’ll be feeling today’s efforts, and Bryan should be experienced enough to exploit any slight jadedness. Other than that, no upsets, though Eoin Ryan had to pull out with a calf injury, therewith giving Nigel Peyton a bye. He might need the day off since he is facing the current Irish national champion: Derek Ryan! Stevie Richardson (facing O’Hare) and Keith Moran (facing Sean Conroy) complete the line-up.
Now, I made sure to talk to my reliable informant and number one Ladies A seed Griffin Gillanders about the ladies draw. Griffin might be facing the current Irish national champion Breanne Flynn in the semis should both get past Niamh Brennan and Claire Staunton respectively, while at the bottom half of the draw Ciara Moloney looks like a likely semi-finalist. Third seed Stephanie Ryan was the only casualty of the day having lost to Laura Mylotte, whose seeding of 14 definitely does not do her justice.
Iphone scoring app: not responsible for bad let calls just yet!
So, a great opening day of the Mount Pleasant Open, this year being run by Henry Gillanders and Aidan Coppinger. As a matter of fact, the Gillanders family makes up over 5% of the tournament population of over 70 players, with Griffin, Henry, Max and Scott all having entered. So far they have won three out of four matches, though two byes were involved! Lets see if they can keep a positive balance by the end of tomorrow.
Unspectacular on paper: Ryan's & Craig's 80 minute marathon
The 2013 Irish Squash season fittingly kicked off with a memorable encounter between two stars of the future: Michael Craig of Ulster and David Ryan of Leinster. Both are 16 years old and are amongst the very top players in their age group in Europe, if not the world. Judging by today’s match, this could shape up to be a great rivalry over the next decade, and it will be intriguing to see how it develops. Today, David Ryan came out on top. He is the more steady of the two, with an intimidating physical side to his powerful game, while Craig plays with some panache! He was 2:0 down and clawed the third game back, but after holding game balls in the fourth, he succumbed in a brutal fourth game tie-break that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Incidentally, Craig and Ryan played an 80 minute match, which was longer than my match against Sean Conroy (I lost 3:0) and Kevin Moore against Connor O’Hare (Connor won 3:1) put together: we played on the parallel court.
Bryan Byrne, not at all distracted by O'Shea's piercing orange t-shirt!
Tomorrow David will be facing Bryan Byrne, who dispatched of Connor O’Shea in three tough games, which Dalibor Panic refereed with help of his fancy IPhone app (see picture). As fit as David is, I do think he’ll be feeling today’s efforts, and Bryan should be experienced enough to exploit any slight jadedness. Other than that, no upsets, though Eoin Ryan had to pull out with a calf injury, therewith giving Nigel Peyton a bye. He might need the day off since he is facing the current Irish national champion: Derek Ryan! Stevie Richardson (facing O’Hare) and Keith Moran (facing Sean Conroy) complete the line-up.
Now, I made sure to talk to my reliable informant and number one Ladies A seed Griffin Gillanders about the ladies draw. Griffin might be facing the current Irish national champion Breanne Flynn in the semis should both get past Niamh Brennan and Claire Staunton respectively, while at the bottom half of the draw Ciara Moloney looks like a likely semi-finalist. Third seed Stephanie Ryan was the only casualty of the day having lost to Laura Mylotte, whose seeding of 14 definitely does not do her justice.
Iphone scoring app: not responsible for bad let calls just yet!
So, a great opening day of the Mount Pleasant Open, this year being run by Henry Gillanders and Aidan Coppinger. As a matter of fact, the Gillanders family makes up over 5% of the tournament population of over 70 players, with Griffin, Henry, Max and Scott all having entered. So far they have won three out of four matches, though two byes were involved! Lets see if they can keep a positive balance by the end of tomorrow.
The British Junior Open was be held from 2nd until 6th of January, 2013 in Sheffield, England. This is the biggest event in ESF junior circuit , attracting the strongest junior players from all over the world.
Irish squash brought a team of juniors to this event and we were represented in great strength at the British Junior Open in Sheffield this month with 15 players traveling!
It is a tough test of character and fitness to complete this tournament, with up to 6 matches to be played over 5 days for most players, and competition from the very best players in the world.
The experience is invaluable to our Irish players taking part.
There were some great performances most notably David Ryan’s epic and close match against Egyptian, Yousseff Aboul Makarim (who went on to finish 4th)
Congratulations to all those who took part and our thanks to all the parents and everyone who helped during the event.
Boys U13: Sam Buckley 15th,Scott Gillanders 29th, Conor Moran 35th
Girls U13: Ellie McVeigh 27th
Boys U15: Luke Logan 39th, Jack Doyle 60th
Girls U15: Stephanie Ryan 24th
Boys U17: David Ryan 18th, Michael Craig 21st, Oisin Logan 30th, Cillian Dunne 57th, Nikita Gilevskiy 60th
Boys U19: Sean Conroy 14th, Josh McVeigh 60th
