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08/10/2004
INSIDE ROUND ONE
Brian Hargave's Duffield may have sat out round one, but that doesn't mean to say he wasn't watching ...
brian week 1
Round 1 Tuesday 5 October
An exhausting time for some in
round 1,
and at least Duffield did not
lose!
After an exhausting week end celebrating my daughter Lisa’s wedding to
Ian, I needed time to recover.
Father of the Bride Speech
Squash did get a couple of mentions in my “father of the bride speech”. Lisa
got a full Cambridge blue at squash and I mentioned BEKO after their
Chief Executive, one of the guests, offered to sponsor our NL kit. If
only I had thought I could have asked Mr Crabtreee of Chichester fame
to help me with my speech. He has a way with words.
It certainly felt a little odd not to be involved in the opening day of
the new season. However, I was not idle as I had received an unexpected
late request from Ross Fletcher of Radio
Derby to do a live preview of the National League at 6pm just
the time when the manager’s nerves start to kick in on a NL night.
Ross also invited our team sponsor Felix Frixou of Benz- Bavarian to join him in the
studio. An ideal chance to give Felix a little discreet plug
particularly as he had just played for Cyprus in the Small Nations Team
tournament and had helped Cyprus to win the gold medal.
Ross asked me what our tactics would be for 2004-05 and my response was
a simple one. To follow the guidelines of Bernard Langer in the Ryder
Cup and try to anticipate where the 3 wins would come from looking down
the order which the home manager is allowed to determine.
Wolves prove a point
I had completely forgotten that the new points system would be
operating this season with five points for a tie win, plus a further
point for each game won. I had even predicted that Stephen Russell’s
Wolverhampton team might reverse the usual 2-3 scoreline. Stephen was
denied this pleasure as his team beat a slightly under strength
Edgbaston 4-1 or to be correct 17-7.
Stephen’s detailed report suggests that this was a hard earned victory
thanks to Anthony Ricketts and Scot Handley beating their respective
much higher ranked opponents. Mark Cairns returned a little exhausted
from his honeymoon and travelling certainly takes its toll which
excuses his defeat at the hands of Peter Barker who is likely to claim
even more prized scalps as the season progresses.
Edgbaston's Hadrian Stiff came from 2-0 down to level the match against
Liam Kenny but was denied 9-5 in the fifth after over 70 exhausting
minutes.
Champions keep on winning
Defending champions Manchester-Pontefract continued where they left off
storming to a home victory defeating Nottingham by 4 ties to 1 or 18-8
under the new scoring system. Nottingham clearly missed the rejuvenated
Simon Parke who I read was so exhausted from his recent exploits that
he withdrew with fatigue from the Motor City Qualifying action in
Detroit. Parke has been enjoying sensational run of form, but being
forced to qualify for every tournament this season has taken its toll.
The surprise of the night was Manchester’s Mr Reliable, Marcus Berrett,
going down to Alex Stait in just 38 minutes. Lee Beachill confirmed his
No 1 status beating John White 3-2 and 9-7 in the fifth. The
Manchester report mentioned that the first rally of the match lasted
eight-minute and hopefully ending in a let decision in fairness to both
players. This rally must have been exhausting for the spectators.
The very nice young lady Pam Nimmo, who was forced to miss last week's
Women's World Team Championships in Amsterdam as the result of a tonsil
infection, pushed England’s Jenny Duncalf all the way before losing 9-1
in the fifth no doubt suffering from exhaustion after her recent
illness.
Chichester Cruise
It was nice to get a special opening mention from the intrepid
Chichester reporter, Mr Crabtree who stated “that when predicting
results I should give full weight to the inescapable facts of the
National League - Chichester win (mostly). Now I know that you are
trying to cheer up Red Robbo, but surely the time comes when even the
most optimistic of Yorkshiremen know when the game is up”.
I have not seen Ian’s version of the night’s proceedings (probably
still exhausted from the journey) but I think the bookmaker Stan James
would not have accepted bets on a 4-1 result as Stacey Ross always
looked on paper to be the sole winner for Unisport Guildford who have a
reputation for starting slowly after all the pre season exhausting
training.
Anyone for a bet?
I read that Malcolm
Willstrop is advocating that one of the things that Squash needs to
develop is betting and to quote Malcolm “Any game you can name can be
bet on and they are all featured in the Racing Post. Squash is one of
the very few remarkable for its absence”.
Malcolm has not given up now that we have the new points scoring system
and a bookmaker friend, who is a squash interested person, is hoping to
set things up very shortly, so watch the Squash Player website for
details. This news could well encourage Broxbourne’s Andy Booth to use
his betting winnings to resurrect the sadly missed Broxbourne team next
season .
I am sure that Mr Crabtree would have worked out the final 18-4
scoreline thanks to Chichester Captain Tim Vail and Peter Genever
producing the goods.
Sue's Strings Start Well
League newcomers Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury produced a pleasing debut
whitewash victory against a weakened Team Solent who were without the
“Brad attack” Bradley Ball.
Sue Wright who now owns the Gloucestershire club Oberthur Strings
Tewkesbury would have been pleased that her team led by Ong
Beng Hee and Alister Walker scored a maximum 20 points from their first
outing. This should encourage Sue to produce some preview information
for yours truly.
Points Make Prizes
Finally I have just worked out that if you win 3 rubbers 3-2 and lose
the other two 0-3 you score 14 points and the opposing team 12. The old
system would have produced 5 points for and 2 against. Let us
hope that future scorelines are much closer.
From an
“exhausted” Brian Hargrave
Contributor: Brian Hargrave
Club: Duffield
Link:
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CHI CRUISE LOCAL DARBY (AND JOAN!)
CHAMPIONS STORM TO SUCCESSFUL OPENER
INSIDE ROUND ONE
THE SEASON STARTS HERE
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