Please observe a minute’s silence at all squash events taking place on Saturday, in memory of all those who suffered loss during the Famine; loss of life, loss of family, loss of home and loss of country. It will be a very special and dignified tribute to those who died during the Great Famine and IRISH SQUASH would like to thank you most sincerely for your support.

Over 100 players played in the 1st Junior tour event of the season which was a great success.  All the draw and results can be seen below in the links for each event.

Thanks to Connacht Squash and in particular, David Noone, the Tournament organiser for all his work.

30th European Club Championships, Paderborn, Germany

DRAW/RESULTS

LIVE STREAMING

Ireland is represented by the All Ireland Club Champions – Sutton, the Women’s title holders and Fitzwilliam the men’s in this year’s event. Fitzwilliam have a seeding of 5th while Sutton’s is 8th. Sutton have Mulhouse of France, Newlands of Scotland, Fricktal of Switzerland & Squash & More Hitgirls from Poland in their group. Fitzwilliam have Sportwerk Hamburg, Squash Fuengirola of Spain & Arelsquash of Luxembourg in their group.

Sutton team: Orla O’Doherty, Niamh Maher, Aoileann Ni Chomhrai

Fitzwilliam Team: Conor O’Hare, Nigel Peyton, Niall Rooney, Rory Byrne, Dara O’Flynn & Gerry Callanan

Headlining the event will be Egyptian star Ali Farag who will represent hosts and defending Champions Paderborn. Ranked number 5 in the World, Farag just edges Mulhouse’s World no.7 Sarah-Jane Perry for top billing.

However, there are host of other squash super stars on show in September. Farag is joined by German favourite and World no.11 Simon Rosnerin the Paderborn side, while his wife and World no.11 Nour El Tayeb heads up the Women’s team from the hosts.

England’s representatives Colets have entered a formidable squad with World no.13 Daryl Selbyspearheading their line up and ex-World no.5 Alex Gough filling the final berth.

Mulhouse will be looking to win the Men’s event for the first time having previously tasted success in the Women’s event. They have pulled together a very solid squad with World no.24 Mathieu Castagnet, Scottish no.1 Alan Clyne and Finnish legend Olli Touminen making then a tough side to get past.

Led by Perry, Mulhouse will be looking at a potential double but with El Tayeb ably backed up by Dutch World no.43 Milou van der Heijdenand top Germans Sina Kandra, Franziska Hennesand Annika Wiese it could be a German double come the end of a competitive week.

However, Edgbaston Priory of England are more than capable of springing an upset with a squad featuring World no.26 Millie Tomlinson, World no.55 Julianne Courtice and Welsh no.1 Deon Saffery.

Elsewhere the World’s hardest hitter Cameron Pilley, the Swiss rocket Nicolas Mueller and exciting Rapha Kandra making this an entertaining event for anyone lucky enough to get a ticket.

Having successfully hosted the 2005 edition and 2011 World Team Championships, it comes as no surprise that fans of the sport have been snapping up the tickets. The all glass court will have seating for 600 spectators, but these have been selling fast with a limited number remaining.

Results – Day 2

In the quarter final Fitzwilliam played a very strong Colets team. Always a tough proposition Colets had too much for the Fitz team. Colets with a team of full time professional players won but Fitzwilliam gave them a good match.

Fitzwiliam now play Finnish side Espoo this afternoon ina 5-8 play off.

Colets – Fitzwilliam LTC: 4-0

Match overview

Order	Event	Colets	–	Fitzwilliam LTC	Score	Points			Duration
1	MS4	Scott Handley	–	Rory Byrne	11-7 13-11 11-6	1-0			0:27
2	MS1	Richie Fallows	–	Conor O’Hare	11-5 11-8 11-8	1-0			0:24
3	MS2	Angus Gillams	–	Nigel Peyton	11-2 11-5 12-10	1-0			0:30
4	MS3	Lance Beddoes	–	Niall Rooney	Walkover	1-0

Fitzwilliam had a great 4-0 win vs Arelsquash today, to put them into the quarter finals this evening. They now play no. 3 seeds Colets from England which should be a great match.

Fitzwilliam LTC – ARELSQUASH: 4-0

Match overview

Order	Event	Fitzwilliam LTC	–	ARELSQUASH	Score	Points			Duration
1	MS4	Dara O’Flynn	–	Nguyen Nha	11-4 11-8 11-2	1-0			0:17
2	MS1	Conor O’Hare	–	Nathan Sneyd	11-5 11-5 11-9	1-0			0:23
3	MS2	Nigel Peyton	–	Marc Thrill	11-3 11-5 11-6	1-0			0:16
4	MS3	Niall Rooney	–	Jean-Marc Fraipont	11-9 11-6 11-6	1-0			0:17

Sutton had a great win vs Polish side Squash and More Hitgirls, 3-0 this afternoon. Sutton who are 8th seeds played the No. 9 seeds and justified the seeding well with a convincing victory. Sutton play Espoo from Finland in the 7-9 play off tomorrow. This match will most likely determine 7th place.

Sutton LTC – Squash and More Hitgirls: 3-0

Match overview

Order	Event	Sutton LTC	–	Squash and More Hitgirls	Score	Points			Duration
1	WS1	Orla O’Doherty	–	Anna Zawartka	11-2 11-8 11-5	1-0			0:14
2	WS2	Niamh Maher	–	Nazia Mohamed	11-9 11-2 11-5	1-0			0:42
3	WS3	Aoileann Ni Chomhrai	–	Malgorzata Cerlich	11-5 11-8 11-3	1-0			0:14

Sutton had a tough match v 5th seeds Fricktal of Switzerland losing 3-0. Nadia Pfister who has played in the IRISH OPEN over the last 2 years played Orla O’Doherty. As a current PSA player she was too strong. Niamh Maher and Aoileann Ni Chomhrai unfortunatly also 3-0 to strong opponents. Sutton next match is v Polish side Squash and More Hitsgirls which will be a good match.

Fricktal – Sutton LTC: 3-0

Match overview

Order	Event	Fricktal	–	Sutton LTC	Score	Points			Duration
1	WS1	Nadia Pfister	–	Orla O’Doherty	11-5 11-7 11-4	1-0			0:15
2	WS2	Nadine Frey	–	Niamh Maher	11-6 11-3 11-6	1-0			0:18
3	WS3	Jasmin Ballmann	–	Aoileann Ni Chomhrai	11-3 11-6 11-1	1-0			0:15

Fitzwilliam LTC – ARELSQUASH

Match overview

Order	Event	Fitzwilliam LTC	–	ARELSQUASH	Score	Points			Duration
1	MS4	Dara O’Flynn	–	Nguyen Nha
2	MS1	Conor O’Hare	–	Nathan Sneyd
3	MS2	<td a WELSH JUNIOR OPEN 2017 Ireland’s Junior had great success at the Welsh Junior Open in Cardiff with 7 players making the semi finals – Jack OFlynn, Denis Gilevskiy, Alex Smith, Conor Moran, Ellie McVeigh, Emma McGugan & Scott Gillanders. 5 of them won their semi’s, with Alex Smith losing to Denis Gilevskiy and Emma McGugan losing to Ellie McVeigh. Finals day started superbly with Jack O’Flynn wining his U13’s final vs England’s Harry Bloomfield 3-0 in convincing fashion. Jack won all his matches 3-0 over the weekend, a really great performance! Next up was Denis Gilevskiy playing in the U15’s final vs Alhassan Khalil of England. Denis had won his earlier rounds well; all 3-0. However he was playing a very good player in the final who went on to beat Denis 3-0, 17-15 in the 3rd. In the girls u17’s final Ellie McVeigh played home player Layna Beattie. Ellie played very well getting to the final but in a tight match Layna won 3-0. In the boys U17’s final, old rivals Conor Moran played Scotland’s Alasdair Prott. These two players have had some very close matches in the past, notably in the Irish Junior Open U17’s last November. Conor also won all his previous rounds 3-0 but in the final Alasdair was too strong for him. Conor is just coming back from a long injury break so this match was a bit too early for for him. Alsdair won 3-0. Finally in the U19’s final Scott Gillanders was playing Tom Walsh of England. Scott had some super wins to the final, notably vs Jared Carter of England in the quarters. However Tom was in full control in the final and won 3-0. So a great weekend for Ireland’s Juniors who with coaches Josh McVeigh and David Noone, coaching the players won 1 gold and 4 silver medals, in the 1st major junior event of the new season.   All results – https://esf.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=BB7DC18B-C3C8-4C0E-88A8-AFB17EC902F4   Venue: Sport Wales National Centre Address: Sophia Gardens CF11 9SW Cardiff Wales   Events Boys Under 11, Girls Under 11, Boys Under 13, Girls Under 13, Girls Under 15, Boys Under 15, Boys Under 17, Girls Under 17, Boys Under 19, Girls Under 19 The Mount Pleasant JMO 2017 was a great success with Jack O’Flynn and Matthew Li battling it out in the final with Matthew prevailing to win the A Section in a thrilling match 3-2 with a 13/11 finish in the 5th.  Luke Kirkland took the B section with a hard fought win over the ever improving  Ismail Abdelwahed In the C section, mainly U11, Alex Olivia McHenry from Lisburn Racquets Club won the demanding 8 match round robin with Mount Pleasant’s Oscar Daly taking 2nd, just ahead of another Mount Pleasant talent Phedra Kingston who finished 3rd with Sara Sabry (another one to watch) taking 4th. Our youngest competitor Conor Dunne (check out the video playing against Alex), just turned 7 was a revelation along with his (ever so slightly older club mate) Benjamin White (who also likes to be photographed and to win prizes) a good attribute for any future top class squash player! Lastly on Sunday we had a club v club match, with Alex Olivia McHenry for Lisburn Racquets Club V Our own Victoria Protsepova of Mount Pleasant. Olivia won the competitive 3-2 match. These two girls will be rivals throughout the long junior careers that lie ahead of them. I predict that if they stick at it they both will be regular Irish junior internationals with a bright future in squash. Henry Gillanders https://www.flickr.com/gp/squashdynamics/cdTntZ WOMEN WHO SQUASH TOURNAMENT The “WOMEN WHO SQUASH SEPTEMBER KICK OFF” Tournament is now taking entries.  This event is a one day event on Saturday, September 9th, so plan on at least three matches throughout the day. There are four divisions – Ladies A, B, C, and Masters. Entry fee is 25 euros which will include lunch and a goody bag.   The event will take place at Sutton Lawn Tennis Club on their five courts, including their 2 new courts.  Entry at link below.  https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=C776CD5F-CE4D-4358-B30C-337EBA9514F9  Events U/11 on 3rd Sept 2pm-6pm U/13 on 2nd Sept 10am-2pm Below is a link for entry to the first 2 Junior Squash ONE DAY Tournaments in Sutton LTC for 17 18 Season Entry only through link €5 entry fee payable on day. https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/events.aspx?id=45D98F8B-6D97-40AE-9020-5D587932980C MOUNT PLEASANT JUNIOR MIXED OPEN The Mount Pleasant Junior Mixed Open takes place on September 2nd & 3rd. This is a standard based tournament and not age graded. So is an innovative format, which sees some fascinating duels. All levels are welcome. Closing Date August 27th. ENTER HERE   It was with great sadness, that we heard of the recent passing of Anthony ‘Anto’ Frahill.   A true Lillywhite and lifelong Curragh club man, Anthony embodied everything Squash is about. To play against ‘Anto’ was a lesson in bravery. He was without doubt the fastest man around and his heart was truly worn on his sleeve. His unbelievable stamina, tuned in Kildare Minor GAA squads, got him to the last 16 of the Junior World Championships and onto the Irish Under 19 team. He was never happier than running flat out on the Curragh of Kildare and the hills of Baltinglass. A week before his untimely passing, he won a 5k race in Kilkenny in 16 minutes. Even at 40 he still loved to run.   Arthur Gaskin the current Irish No 1 remembers Anthony, from when they played together.   “ He was the most encouraging and positive influence in my late junior and early professional squash career. As a junior he was known as ‘the butcher boy’ for how he used to cut the spots off the ball – A great competitor and unbelievably gutsy!   Captaining the team to the Leinster Cup in 2003, Anthony won the decider at no.2, in the final, in a typical gutsy performance, after being 2/0 down! Your going to be missed but never forgotten”…    It will be his ever present smile and good humour that will be missed the most.  We know his bravery and honesty will be carried on, by his three sons.   Gerry Callanan   Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.