DSRC Closed Squash Finals 2018
The stage was set. The Saturday had dawned. 6 finals scheduled. Finals Day, who would prevail?
Some titanic battles ensued for the 2018 DSRC Closed Squash Finals Saturday 9 June . The semi finals had caused some upsets and it was all down to this.
Juniors on first, and Zack Greengrass won 2 age groups without contest. The U11 and U13 champ by default.
The action started to hot up with the U15 and U17 battles. In the former Liam Ferris took on Tom Greengrass. Some good long rallies but Tom was too strong for Liam and won through in 3. Then to the U17’s where Callum Adam took on Jamie Greengrass. Some good length hitting was too much for Callum to dig out of the back and another trophy for the Greengrass clan!
The U19’s final was a David and Goliath battle with 18 year old Lucas Day, incredibly fit, with not an ounce of fat on him, 6 foot+ of lean muscle took on just turned 13 year old Tom Greengrass for his 2nd of 3 finals that day.
Any strangers looking at the line up I’m sure would have said that it would be a complete miss-match. They would have quickly eaten their words with Tom taking a speedy 2-0 lead using superior racket skill and tactical awareness. Then the strength and speed of Lucas started to prevail taking the 3rd. The 4th went to tie break and with Lucas nicking it, set up a one game showdown. Tom found his second wind however and played some exemplary squash to take the 5th 11-7 and his 2nd title of the day.
The 055’s final saw Neil Davey take on multiple champion Nick Hudson. Some had their money on the experience of Nick, others had confidence in the trickery and guile of Neil. This time round trickery and guile prevailed with Neil taking the title from Nick’s grasp, 3-1.
Two finals left, the plate final and the big one, the men’s final. The plate was a repeat of the previous years final between Bruce Pearman and Tom Greengrass in his 3rd final of the day. Last year it was young Tom that prevailed, 3-1. This year, his development over the past year was too much to handle for Bruce with Tom making it a hat-trick, 3 from 3!
On to the big one. The main draw had gone according to seeding with Matt Wagg taking on Henry Bitmead. Both arrived early and were keen to be 100% ready for the battle. Both also looked nervous, the importance of the win to both of them obvious.
As you could guess the quality of the squash was pushed up another level in this final. The speed and intensity coupled with great tactical awareness and pure heart and desire made the whole match compelling.
Matt took the 1st quite comfortably. Henry came back more determined and with greater purpose. In both games 2 and 3 he romped into an early lead. Matt clawed back both times but Henry got in front enough to take the lead. Matt put it all in to level in the 4th to take the match into the 5th and deserved final game. Lots of fist pumping ensued from both, points were traded but there could be only one winner. This year it was Matt who dug in and won through. A great finale to the day. What a battle!
Full results of the finals were:
U11 – Zack Greengrass
U13 – Zack Greengrass
U15 – Tom Greengrass beat Liam Ferris 3-0
U17 – Jamie Greengrass beat Callum Adam 3-0
U19 – Tom Greengrass beat Lucas Day 3-2
O55 – Neil Davey beat Nick Hudson 3-1
Plate Final – Tom Greengrass beat Bruce Pearman 3-0
Men’s Final – Matt Wagg beat Henry Bitmead 3-2
Men’s 3rd Place Playoff – Neil Cooper beat Dan Sullivan 3-1
The season’s trophy presentations night will be held on 28 August 2018, the same night as the Summer Handicap Finals.
