Cambs Squash

The 2008 tournament was held at Fenland Squash Club (Brian’s club, St Ivo, was undergoing renovations) on 13 December. As last year the competitors were divided into two groups: Group A for the younger players and Group B for the older ones. There was provision for 16 players in each group to compete through a series of four rounds until a ranking order was achieved (though an epidemic of flu and sickness robbed us of some competitors at the last minute!).

Group A played in the morning, and proved a happy hunting ground for the girls, who took three of the top four places. In the final Tayla Mounter (Hunts County) fought back after losing the first game to record a 2-1 victory over Comberton’s Selina Leung. It was very encouraging to see such a high-quality match between two girls aged eleven and twelve. Connor Shelley (Fenland) saved the boys’ blushes by taking third place with a win over newcomer Olivia Miller of Hunts County.

Girls also proved formidable in the B Group, with Elsje Van Es (Hunts County) giving a fine display to defeat Ben Northfield (Leys School) in the final in straight games. Jasmine Luckett (Crown Lodge) made the semi-final, but was unable to prevail against Comberton’s Tom Blair.

All in all it was an excellent day’s squash to commemorate Cambridgeshire’s much missed junior coach, Brian Fielding. Thanks to Rebecca Moore, who not only organized the draw but rose from her sick-bed to run the event on the day!