Author Archive

Court 4 having been completely refurbished with new floor, re-plastered front wall and all walls painted, we now eagerly await the refurbishment of courts 2 and 3.

This is anticipated to be carried out this weekend by Wearwell, and is being financed out of club funds (court 4 being financed by the school).

In this instance, the floors will be sanded, rather than replaced, and the side and back walls painted, the front walls still being in very good condition.

This will give the club (and the schoolboys) four courts in top condition on which to play.

The floors and walls will now ‘play’ properly – ie the ball will be ‘gripped’ by the walls and floors and bounce properly instead of skidding.

Members can help keep the courts in good condition by:

Not wearing shoes which mark the floor (proper ‘court shoes’ should always be worn for safety in any case)

Not entering the courts with shoes which are carrying mud or grit from outside use

(If, on entering the court to play, the floor has been contaminated by previous users who have not observed the above guidance, before playing, SWEEP THE FLOOR using the bristle brush provided (not the blue fluffy one). Playing on the floor while it is covered in grit is dangerous and damages the floor further).

Not using dark protective tape on racket heads which marks the walls

By following the above guidance we’ll keep the courts in good playing condition for many years.

COURT TIMINGS

Following the school’s ruling that club members may not enter the courts during school hours (8.30 – 5.30), we changed the court timings so that all courts commenced at 5.40, to allow for changing time.

Some members have said that having all courts commencing at 5.40 creates jams in the changing rooms.

Has this been a problem for you? If you’d like the club committee to look again at court timings please register your view here.

At last we are able to bring some good news about the squash courts.

The Squash Club Committee has approved expenditure to sand the floors and paint the walls (with squash court paint) of courts 2 and 3. This funding comes from club reserves built up during the past years.

This refurbishment will vastly improve the game quality for players as the floors and walls were becoming very slippery.

Court 4 is also scheduled to have a completely new floor fitted and walls painted as soon as possible during the coming Christmas / New Year period, but no firm date has been set yet.

All being well we will have four top quality courts to play on by the first week or two of 2010.

Heating
During the school holiday period (11th Dec – 3rd Jan incl) when the school is not using the courts during the day the courts can become extremely cold. Accordingly, during the holiday period, the court fan heaters will be switched on at 4.30 every day to warm the courts up before the usual start time of 5.30.

PLEASE NOTE: During the school holiday period the squash courts are available for booking ALL DAY weekdays and weekends, but unfortunately the heating will only come on at 4.30.

(This situation is being addressed and we hope to be able to come to a more satisfactory arrangement soon)

Squash Court Booking on the Internet
Martin Brewin and Simon Barker have been asked to review the various products and systems available for the Committee and we hope to be able to implement an internet/web-based court booking system early in the New Year. (For those who don’t have internet there will be a facility at the club to book courts as well).

Best regards,

Martin

Maurice Mosdell, Alastair Gunn and Martin Shippey went to the ISS Canary Wharf Classic semi finals last week, here are some pictures from their expedition!

Jon White and Thierry Lincou ....and for the sharp eyed amongst you -you can also see Alastair just above the 7 behind the front wall – he was manning the radar speed gun to measure the speed of Jon White’s drives. You can also make out Maurice in the front row of the forehand wall.

Nick Matthews and James Willstrop warming up – Alastair and Maurice still visible.

Alastair and Maurice in the bar.

Jon White and Thierry Lincou’s match was a bit of a dogfight, with Lincou desperately fighting for every point against White’s relentless 143 mph drives in a 95 minute battle to five games with two tie breakers. The Matthews and Willstrop tie was a complete contrast, a cat and mouse match of wits, stealth, reflexes and agility, with Matthews succumbing to some extremely unlucky bounces from a dead board at the rear of the backhand court, one of which, on an early game point, could well have cost him the match.

….and for info, Jamie Willstrop beat Jon White in the Final.

The Peterborough & District Summer League 2006 was won by Stamford.

In the picture are some of the Team players, from left to right, Martin Shippey, Mark Smith, Alastair Gunn (Capt) and Giles Clawson. Glyn Williams and Simon Barker are not pictured but also made valuable contributions to the team victory. WELL DONE!

Stamford Squash Club achieve 5-1 success against Portuguese

Although many squash clubs find their activities somewhat curtailed during the summer months, with many players opting for the fresh air activities of golf and tennis, Stamford Squash Club seem to be taking the opposite tack.

Having recently returned from a stimulating tour in Edinburgh they found themselves on the receiving end of a challenge from the Monte Aventino Squash Club from Porto, Portugal, currently touring in the UK.

The fixture against Monte Aventino S. C. was arranged by Carlose Correia, of the Peterborough District Squash League. Carlos met Monte Aventino’s No. 1 player and coach Paulo Pinto five years ago when playing in Porto, where Paulo runs his own squash school and since then Carlos has taken several squash teams over to play in Portugal.

The match was played on Friday 2nd June at the Stamford Squash Club courts. The teams, consisting of six players each, were played as follows:

Monte Aventino Squash Club, Porto:
1 Paulo Pinto, 2 Paulo Amorim, 3 Pedro Silva, 4 Francisco Lupi, 5 Luìs Carvalho, 6 Felipe Vitorino

Stamford Squash Club:
1 Alastair Gunn, 2 Glynn Williams, 3 Richard Barker, 4 Ian Burnham, 5 Martin Shippey, 6 Dave Spooner.

Dave Spooner and Felipe Vitorino were first to play, Dave very quickly taking the first game 9-4, and in spite of a very spirited and energetic defence from Felipe, took the next two games 9-3 and 9-3.

The next game, between Martin Shippey and Luìs Carvalho began in much the same way, with a score of 9-3 to Martin, but Luìs, taking better advantage of his speed and agility in the second game, took it 9-6. The third game looked as if it might also go to Luìs had Martin not slowed the pace right down. Lobs and drops produced the desired effect and he took the next two games 9-4, 9-3.

Two games played and two decisive wins to Stamford.

The third game, Ian Burnham against Francisco Lupi, proved itself to be the longest match of the six played. Ian, sensing the younger player’s stamina advantage, decided to play a game of alternating attack and defence. The first game was played with dazzling speed and ferocious drives from Ian, who backed off in the second, allowing Francisco to take an easy game. Ian, coming back in the third with more speed and powerful drives, again backed off in the fourth, giving another easy one to Francisco, and on to the gruelling and crucial fifth game. The final scoreline clearly illuminating Ian’s strategy; 9-7, 0-9, 9-3, 2-9, 9-7 and another win for Stamford.

Playing in the third position, Richard Barker and Pedro Silva exhibited squash playing at another level, this game being characterised by long stamina-sapping rallies, astonishing retrievals, clever reversals and heavily disguised drops and drives, but in the end Richard’s strength proved decisive, giving him a 9-4, 10-8, 9-0 win.

In the second position, Glyn Williams was drawn against Porto’s Paulo Amorim, in Glyn’s words “the craziest squash player Portugal could produce” After Glyn took the first game convincingly, Paulo pulled out an array of court dives to snatch the second 10-8. The third was also closely fought with Paulo, now bleeding as a result of grazes sustained during the dives, taking an early lead. However, Glyn managed to claw the points back and win 10-9. At this point Paulo retired from the match due to his ‘injuries’, giving a final result of 3-1 to Stamford.

So far, Stamford remained unbeaten, but there was one match remaining to be played, against top Portuguese coach Paulo Pinto, who is also nationally ranked. Could Stamford’s no. 1 Alastair Gunn hold the line against a player of such formidable standing?

The first game was played carefully, each player sounding the other out, looking for opportunities and weaknesses, of which there were few on either side. Alastair’s game, which combined superb anticipation with always-disguised and deadly accurate drives down the walls or cross-court, saw him through the first game with a 9-7 win. Paulo came back in the second, relentlessly chasing everything down, returning everything with pace and precision, leaving nothing to chance and in the end just edging a 10-9 win. Having seen what worked, Paulo stuck to his guns, and continued to pick off point after point through the third and fourth exhausting games, the final scoreline of 9-7, 8-10, 2-9, 5-9 telling the tale of Alastair’s elegant and intelligent game being inexorably ground down by technical and tactical excellence.

At a brief award ceremony which took place at The Dolphin, the Monte Aventino Squash Club team showed themselves to be extremely polite, sportsmanlike and good natured representatives of their country. Cups and medals were awarded to both teams and it was agreed that a return match in Porto would be arranged soon.