Kirkwall Club Championship

The Club Championship finals were held on Saturday, Feb 18th. Betty Stanger retained her title, beating Melanie Slater 3-0. Ian Stout won a very tight final against Mick Swanney 10-8 in the fifth. Marion Seatter and Andy Torbet won the Plate events. A full report will be posted here soon.

Stanger Family take Handicap Squash Titles - Jan 12-14, 2012

Kirkwall Squash & Racketball Club held their annual Handicap Tournament over last weekend at the Hatston courts. As usual, the handicapper did a good job and the result was a string of very close matches.

However, no matter how big the handicap there are some players who will always rise to the occasion and that’s exactly what Adam Stanger did to win the Men’s event. But it wasn’t easy. Particularly in the final where he was pushed all the way by Terry Flett before clinching the fifth game 15-12. Going into the final the odds certainly seemed to favour Adam. He had the easier run to the final whereas Terry’s semi-final, just over an hour earlier, had been a massive tussle with Shawn Tait that had also gone to 15-12 in the fifth game. But Terry just kept going, and even pushed Adam to a few uncharacteristic unforced errors. In the end Adam had just a bit more speed about the court coupled with an ability to dig out balls that looked dead, and deservedly won the match and the title.

Meanwhile Betty Stanger was defending the title she won last year and met Melanie Slater in the final. Both were fresh having played their semi-finals on Friday evening and produced an excellent match. Betty got off to the better start before Melanie squared the match at 1-1. However Betty’s years of experience always show in the big match and above all, she doesn’t make mistakes, which counts for a lot in a handicap event using PAR scoring. Although the last two games were close, in the event Betty retained her title with a comfortable 3-1 win.

The Plate event always produces good squash – a bit less pressure and some good players who were unlucky in the main draw. Andy Torbet had a good run to the final beating the youngster David Chalmers and Calum Flett. In the final he met Andy Kemp who had been knocked out of the main event by Shawn Tait before a good win against fellow veteran Kevin Denver. In reality the final was a bit one sided. Although Kemp can still play the great shot when the opportunity arises, Torbet just covered the court so much better and kept the pressure on to take the Plate title 3-0.

With any luck, next year’s event will played in the warmer surroundings of the Pickaquoy Centre.

Alec Livingstone

(M) 07803 003215

Event for 2012

Kirkwall Championship - Feb 17/1. Contact Mick Swanney or Colin Rendall.

15minute Handicap Tournament - Sep 30/Oct 1, 2011

The annual 15minute Handicap event is a reasonably fun way to start the season with some aggressive handicapping ensuring fast and furious matches. As always at the start of a season, handicapping relies on a perception of last year's performance and in Friday's round robins a couple of players were performing well above expectation, Kevin Denvir in particular amassing a massive 59 point difference from just two games. Even with a hastily modified handicap, it was probably the effect of two long games that lead to Denvir's defeat in the quarter final by 40 points to 36 to Michael Scott, one of the eventual finalists. In the final, Scott met Matthew Wylie, whose aggressive hard hitting style worked well over the weekend. And that style, well suited to PAR scoring, saw him beat Scott 53/43 to lift the title.

The Ladies' event saw some very close matches that were in doubt right up to the 15minute limit. In fact Sarah Cowie’s semi final went to the last point, defeating Linda Hill 46/45. Glynis Tait’s route to the final was just as tight and the final was no exception, Glynis creeping ahead by 43 points to 40 in the last few rallies. Sarah had the consolation of retaining the Girls’ title.

The Boys' final also went to the wire, tied at 39 all going into the last few seconds. But Graeme Murdoch's experience showed as he put in a couple of pressure drives to secure victory over Michael Schinkel.

Results:

Men; Matthew Wylie bt Michael Scott 53/43

Ladies: Glynis Tait bt Sarah Cowie 43/40

Boys: Graeme Murdoch bt Michael Schinkel 40/38

Girls: Sarah Cowie

Click here for full Ladies’ and Men’s results.

AGM (and EGM!)  16th August

(A note from President Linda Hill)

Our Annual General Meeting was held (on Aug 16th) followed by an Extraordinary General Meeting. At the EGM the assembled members unanimously agreed to change our club name to Kirkwall Squash and Racketball Club.

We are now preparing for our 2011/2012 season. Our committee for the new season will be Mick Swanney, Susan Craigie, Maureen Firth, Duncan Hill, Colin Rendall, Jo Hill, Matthew Wylie, David Chalmers, Michael Scott, Ian Stout and Alec Livingstone.  

Our season is starting with a Level 1 Coaching course being held at the courts 27th August.  The courts will not be available from 9 – 6 on Saturday and Sunday that weekend.

Annual memberships become due on 1st September when the lock will be changed.  

The subs remain the same as last year;

Adults £50

Juniors £15

Students £25 and

First time members £30.

New keys and booking cards will be available from KT Intersport from Saturday 27th August.

Linda Hill, President

Junior County and friendly Monrad Tournament 10th - 12th June 

Around 45 players from Caithness, Shetlan and Orkney shall be playing in these events. The monrad tournament is a friendly tournament and is great fun. Each player should get approximately 4 games depending on how many folk enter, it shall be run in parallel with the county matches and players entering will require to be at the club for Monrad on Saturday and Sunday, no playing times will be allocated. The monrad is a seeded tournament so we are hoping for all ages 18 and under to enter. If you have not already entered please contact Shawn Tait as soon as possible - 873367, 07900 15 3331 shawn_tait@tiscali.co.uk

 

Orkney v Caithness - Friday, starting time 5pm, It would be appreciated if Orkney players to take some sandwiches and home bakes on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Orkney v Shetland  - Saturday, starting time 9.0 am

 

Shetland v Caithness Saturday, starting time 2.0 pm

 

Monrad Tournament - Saturday and Sunday starting time 9.0 am [After you play a game, you mark the next game, help given if your new to this] 

 

We hope to order atake away Fish and Chips etc for Tea at the club on Saturday at some point - please take some money if you want to place an order.

Caithness v Orkney - April 23

Caithness won the Robertson Cup at the weekend 11 – 5  (4 – 4 this leg, 7 – 1 first leg) and Orkney won the Caithness Shield (2 – 6 this leg, 6 – 2 first leg) when they went down to games won.  

Inter-County v Shetland - Mar 19

Orkney secured a comfortable victory 7 games to 2 over Shetland in the annual Inter County. Both teams were affected by injuries and withdrawals to key players but the standard of play remained high and some good games prevailed.It was always going to be difficult for Orkney’s women as Shetland are always strong in that department. Orkney managed to secure one victory out of the three games when Melanie Sclater won her game 3-0. Betty Stanger and Marie Wylie both succumbed to their opponents to the same score loosing 3-0. In the men however things were different where all six Orkney men won their games quite convincingly, only dropping one set out of the six games, all others finished up 3 games to 0. Click here for full report with results.

Orkney Championships - Mar 10/12

Ian Stout beats Mick Swanney to win the Men’s title. Betty Stanger beats Christine West in the Ladies’ Final. Aimee Drever, Graeme Murdoch and Michael Schinkel won the Junior titles. Aimee Drever and Scott Tulloch were Plate winners. Click here for full tournament report.

Kirkwall Club Championships - Feb 10/12

Click here for full tournament report.

Inter-County v Caithness - Jan 29

It was a disappointing match against Caithness with the A team (Robertson Cup) losing7 7-1 (Mick Swanney the winner) but the B team (Caithness Shield) won 6-2. Full results here.

5 Set Handicap Tournament - Jan 20/22

The 5 set Handicap Tournament winners were Terry Flett, Betty Stanger and Alistair Scott who beat Shawn Tait, Sarah Cowie and Michael Schinkel respectively. Click here for full report. Or here for picture of finalists.

15 min Handicap Tournament - Dec 10/11

The first tournament of the year is over with much fun for all. Sarah Cowie won the Girls’ and Ladies’ events, beating Aimee Drever and Marion Seatter in the finals. Graham Murdoch bt Alistair Scott to win the Boys’ event and Alex Dohrn beat Shawn Tait to win the Men’s event. Many thanks to all the players and markers, and Linda Hill and Ian Stout for stepping in to manage the event. Picture.

Orkney Championships 2010

The annual Orkney Squash Championships had many entrants across all sections.

As normal, the juniors took to the courts first. In the boy’s under 15 section Sam Scott made it through to play Greg Kemp in the final, with Sam beating Greg 9/4, 10/8 in an exciting game.

In the under 18 girls final, Sarah Cowie was up against Amiee Drever but unfortunately Amiee had to pull out due to injury, so the trophy went to Sarah.

The under 18 boys saw Alistair Scott powering his way to the final against Sweyn Cowie. Alistair secured victory by beating Sweyn 9/4, 9/3.

The Ladies Championship was highly competitive with some excellent games throughout. Jane Hill and Helen Fay both played very well and showed real potential for the future. In the first rounds, Glynis Tait played the experienced Audrey Poke but lost in three games to one, perhaps lacking the focus of her opponent. Sarah Cowie played Betty Stanger and while Sarah fought hard throughout the match, she was eventually worn down by Betty’s control and experience, losing 9/1,9/1,9/4.

The ladies plate final saw Marie Wylie narrowly losing to the club’s president Linda Hill in an exciting 5 set match, the final score being 9/0,3/9,10/8,7/9,6/9 to Linda.

The first semi final saw Betty Stanger beat Helen Fay 9/3,9/6,9/4. Audrey Poke beat Jane Hill in the second semi final 7/9,9/7,9/6,10/9, with Audrey having to work harder than Betty to win her place in the ladies final.

A large crowd gathered to watch the ladies final. Betty’s focus prevented Audrey from getting into the game, with Betty winning the Orkney Ladies Championship in three straight sets 9/3,9/2,9/2.

The games in the men’s Championship were also very competitive and entertaining. The standard of play was high with an excellent number of entrants.

In the first few rounds spectators saw some very good games. Scott Tulloch put in a great performance making it to the plate semi final. The men’s plate final saw Mark Garson play Andy Kemp. Despite Mark’s fitness and speed around the court, the older player’s wisdom and experience led to a win for Andy 9/6,9/3,9/7.

As the stages progressed, the normally commanding player Ian Stout was not on form due to an ankle injury and was beaten by Terry Flett 2/9,6/9,8/10. Mick Swanney was focused and sailed through to the first semi-final against Adam Stanger. Mick tried hard to put Adam under pressure but lost concentration allowing Adam to win 9/2,9/1,9/5.

The second semi-final saw Terry Flett take on Adam Bews. Terry put everything into the game and played well with a respectable score. Adam Bews used his superior control and shots on court to win easily 9/6,9/4,9/2.

A bigger crowd gathered to watch the men’s final between rivals Adam Stanger and Adam Bews. Both players looked tense and ready for explosive action on court. Adam Bews was keen to win, having been defeated by Adam Stanger at the Kirkwall Championships in February. As normal, the crowd witnessed high-standard squash, with long rallies and unbelievable shots. The first set was close but Bews was focused, winning 9/5. In the second set play was closer. Stanger played well but missed several easy shots losing 9/7. Bews’ game had become more technical since his last encounter with Stanger, with Bews killing shots and trying to avoid extra long rallies. In the third, the excitement increased further as Stanger began to find his normal form. Bews kept the pressure on reaching 8/6 for the match but Stanger fought back to make it 8 all. After a couple of hard fought rallies Adam Bews won 10/8 to win the Orkney Championship.