2010 County Championships
Report
Squash players from throughout Lincolnshire competed in the Lincolnshire County Closed Squash Championships in Boston last weekend, as a total of 50 squash matches were contested over two days.
Mark Hildred won the men’s, men’s over 35s and men’s over 45s events, while the men’s over 55s title went to Paul Tudor, and the women’s winner was Fran Wallis.
A healthy over 55s draw began with an incredibly long and competitive match between Stephen Holloway and Rob Sutton. Rob eventually progressed into the quarter finals 8/10, 9/3, 9/3, 9/4. In the quarters, Bert Cotter and Paul Tudor beat Rob Sutton and Dave Parsons 3-0 respectively, while Bob Pearson overcame ¾ seed Phil Hiatt to cause a minor upset. The match of the round occurred as Alan Beal beat Ian Brown in a five setter. Paul Tudor beat Alan Beal 9/1, 9/3, 5/9, 9/2 in the final.
In the men’s over 45s, number two seed Dave Stones lost to the unseeded Andy Simpson 9/4, 2/9, 9/3, 9/2, while in the other semi final Mark Hildred beat John Mackenzie 3-0. In Sunday’s final, Mark beat Andy Simpson 9/2, 9/4, 9/2 to take the over 45s title in his first year in the category.
The youngest age category was the men‘s over 35s. A full set of quarter finals were played involving Jason Green, Mark Hildred, John Mackenzie, Mark Day, Ady Proctor, John Secker, Roberto Rocci and Dylan Ross. Ady knocked out number two seed Dylan Ross to face Mark Hildred in the final, when Dylan retired at 10/8, 10/9, 6/9, 8/1 up. Having already played the over 35s final, Mark began his second consecutive final - but the way in which he won it was unexpected. Ady sustained an injury to his finger during the second game after being hit by Mark’s racket, and retired at 9/4, 8/5 down.
In the men’s open tournament, Jake Fountain beat Paul Moules in a fantastic five setter, despite going a game down twice. Mark Hildred played in his third event of the weekend after filling in as number one seed in the place of late pullout Martin Gibson. There were no real upsets in the main competition, but the unseeded Shane Great Rex impressed, progressing from a qualifier to the quarter finals, where he narrowly lost to ¾ seed Dylan Ross. Youngster Dominic Price also did himself proud - going out 3-1 in the semi finals to the tired number one seed late on Saturday night, who he severely tested. On Sunday’s grand final, Mark Hildred beat number two seed Dean Hiatt 11/9, 11/6, 7/11, 11/6. The two players were a close match and provided a passionate four games with plenty of lets. The title marked the first ever men’s treble for a single player in the Lincolnshire County Championships.
The women‘s final was fought between Fran Wallis and her daughter Sophie, both from Lincoln, and was of a high standard. Fran won the match 9/2, 10/9, 9/3 to continue her excellent record in the counties.
Finally, Graeme Williamson won the main plate with Chris Martin finishing as runner-up, while John Mackenzie beat Jason Green in the senior plate final.
The presentations followed the finals on Sunday evening, where all the volunteers, players and spectators were thanked, as well as the host club, for making the weekend such a success.
Draws
Men's | Women's | Men's Over 35s | Men's Over 45s | Men's Over 55s | Men's Plate
Mixed masters' plate: John Mackenzie beat Jason Green 9/3, 9/1, 9/1