The 12th annual World Squash Day aims to show the world that the sport refuses to be knocked back by its recent rejection by the IOC to join the Olympic Games programme in 2020.
The universal sport, that prides itself on being played in 185 countries, will celebrate 2013 World Squash Day on Saturday 5th October – the theme ‘Reaching out’ to encourage partnerships at all levels of the sport. As in previous years, clubs and centres globally will take part, and this year the intention is that they connect with other local groups such as schools, other clubs, even internationally, or simply hold an open day.
Ed Dunne, President of Irish Squash says “World Squash Day has its theme this year of reaching out on October 5th. “I encourage clubs around Ireland to reach out to other sports and organisations such as schools, youth clubs and public services, which could benefit from the well-known health and fitness benefits produced by playing squash. “We have many enthusiastic people playing squash all over the country and we want to increase that playing base even further.”
Please send in your plans for the day to [email protected]. Also send us in your photos of the day’s activity after the event.
Full details and ideas for staging events can be found at: www.worldsquashday.com
There were over 80 players entered for this weekend’s Connacht Junior Open, which took place in Galway LTC.
List of Winners
GIRLS U11 – HANNAH MCGUGAN
GIRLS U13 – EMMA MCGUGAN
GIRLS U15 – ELLIE MCVEIGH
GIRLS U 17 – STEPHANIE RYAN
GIRLS U 19 – FIONA POWER
BOYS U 11 – DENIS GILEVSKIY
BOYS U 13 – CONOR MORAN
BOYS U 13 Round Robin – DOMHALL ROE
BOYS U 15 – LUKE LOGAN
BOYS U 17 – NIKITA GILEVSKIY
WELL DONE TO ALL COMPETITORS!!
Click here for full draw and results
| Venue: | Galway Lawn Tennis Club | ||
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| Address: |
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| Phone: | 091 522353 | ||
| Website: | www.gltc.ie |
| Name: | Andre Davies |
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| Phone: | 0876225687 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| Boys U11, Boys U13, Boys U15, Boys U17, Boys U19, Girls U11, Girls U13, Girls U15, Girls U17/19 |
The European Club Championships in Riccione, Italy Started on the 18th September and go on till the 21st September. IRELAND has an entry in the women’s – represented by Sutton LTC and in the men’s by Fitzwilliam LTC. Sutton are seeded 6th out of 10 teams and Fitzwilliam 7th out of 17 teams.
Fitzwilliam LTC have had a good pool with 2 wins out of 3 matches. They beat Herlev-Hjorten Squash of Denmark 3.-1 and also beat Petroholding Squash Club from Ukraine 3-1. Unfortunately they lost 4-0 to a very strong professional team from Mulhouse Squash Club [M]
Fitzwilliam have qualified for the main draw (places 1-8) where they play Paderborner Squash Club which will be a tough challenge. Paderborner have a long tradition in the ECC having won the event on a number of occasions. They have professional players playing for them so are tough opposition.
Sutton LTC (pictured on the right) had a more difficult time in the women’s event unfortunately losing their 4 matches. They played teams from Italy, England, Czech and Poland. In the 9th/10th play off they play Stockholm SC on Saturday 21st.
Fitzwilliam had a very tough match in the 1-8 play offs versus a fully professional team from Paderborner Squash Club who are seeded 1. As expected Fitz lost 4-0. In the next match Fitz had a superb victory over Squash Club Sandweiler from Luxembourg 3-1 with Niall Rooney, Nigel Peyton and Conor O’Hare recording wins. The only player to lose was the experienced Derek Ryan who played Dylan Bennett in a cracking 5 setter.
Next onto the 5/6th play off vs. Helsinki Senators which unfortunately Fitz lost 3-1. Nigel Peyton being the only winner in this match. So Fitzwilliam finish in 6th place, one better than their seeding which all in all was a very good result.
In the Women’s event Sutton LTC had a tough opening couple of matches with a very inexperienced team. in the 9th/10th play off they faced Swedish opposition in Stockholm SC which they lost 3-0. Stephanie Ryan had a great 5 setter in her match just losing out 11-7 in the 5th. A great experience for the Sutton team to participate in this great event.
The winner of the women’s event was Pontefract beating Mulhouse Squash Club in the final 2-1. in the men’s Black & White RC Worms e.V. from Germany beat Mulhouse Squash Club 3-0 in a very one sided final.
The Draw for the ECC 2013 may be found on the ECC event website:
http://www.federsquash.it/european-club-championship-2013/draws.html
Irish Squash re-launched its Facebook page this weekend – www.facebook.com/irishsquash
We´ll be using the Facebook and Twitter (www.twitter.com/IrishSquash) pages to keep you updated on tournaments and other events in a more real-time fashion.
Please LIKE the new FaceBook and Twitter feeds and check any links you have are to the correct facebook and twitter pages.
Want a chance to win a FREE Dunlop Squash Racket? To enter, simply give us your Like, and tell us via Facebook what you’d like to see on our new Facebook page.
23 September 2013
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 ilex construction Charlottesville Challenger, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Final: [2] Martin Knight (NZL) bt [3] Charles Sharpes (ENG) 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7 (98m)
After reaching his third PSA World Tour final this month, New Zealand’s Martin Knight finally celebrated a first win when he beat England’s Charles Sharpes in the final of the ilex construction Charlottesville Challenger, the inaugural PSA Challenger 10 squash event at McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville in the US state of Virginia.
The No2 seed from Auckland dropped only one game en-route to the final – and immediately had to play catch-up as third seed Sharpes took the opener.
Knight, who arrived in Charlottesville after finishing as runner-up in PSA Tour events in New Zealand and Brazil earlier in the month, won the next two games to take the lead – but 21-year-old Sharpes fought back to force a decider.
It took 98 minutes for the title to be decided – 29-year-old Knight emerging the 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7 victor to claim the fourth Tour title of his career.
“Get in!!! Just won the Charlottesville Open,” the jubilant Knight told his friends on Facebook. “My third final in 3 weeks, it was great to convert this time around!!”
22 September 2013
England’s Charles Sharpes and New Zealander Martin Knight will contest the final of the ilex construction Charlottesville Challenger after surviving contrasting semi-finals in the inaugural PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville in the US state of Virginia.
Second seed Knight, the New Zealand champion from Auckland, also faced an unseeded opponent. Ireland’s Arthur Gaskin earned his surprise place in the last four after upsetting fourth-seeded Canadian Dane Sharp in the previous round.
But the 29-year-old Kiwi, ranked 53 in the world, was too strong for the Irishman, winning 12-10, 11-7, 11-3 to claim his third successive Tour final appearance this month – and the 11th of his career.
Third seed Sharpes faced Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, the unseeded Qatari teenager who upset US favourite Julian Illingworth in the first round.
The 18-year-old from Doha took the opening two games before the London-born 21-year-old Sharpes asserted his authority on the encounter to take the next three to secure a 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 victory.
The win moves Sharpes into his second PSA Tour final of the year and the seventh of his career.
Semi-finals: [3] Charles Sharpes (ENG) bt Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 [2] Martin Knight (NZL) bt Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 12-10, 11-7, 11-3
21 September 2013
Irish No.1 Arthur Gaskin grabbed a
place in the semi-finals of the ilex construction Charlottesville Challenger after upsetting fourth seed Dane Sharp in the inaugural PSA World Tour Challenger 10 event at McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville in the US state of Virginia.
The unseeded 28-year-old from Carlow came from two games down to beat Sharp, ranked 12 places higher in the world, 8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5.
Gaskin now faces Martin Knight, the No2 seed from New Zealand who ended Pakistani Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari’s run, beating the 17-year-old 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3.
Qatari teenager Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi continued his mighty run by beating South Africa’s Clinton Leeuw 11-7, 11-9, 2-11, 11-9.
The 18-year-old from Doha, who produced a major first round shock when he ousted top seed Julian Illingworth, now takes on third seed Charles Sharpes after the Englishman defeated Kiwi Paul Coll 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10.
Quarter-finals:
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 11-7, 11-9, 2-11, 11-9
[3] Charles Sharpes (ENG) bt Paul Coll (NZL) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10
Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt [4] Dane Sharp (CAN) 8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) bt Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (PAK) 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3
Semi-final line-up:
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v [3] Charles Sharpes (ENG)
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) v Arthur Gaskin (IRL)
Irish Squash Facebook page
A group of squash enthusiasts playing out of the De la Salle College squash courts in Waterford are holding a 24 hour “Squash- a-thon” for charity on Friday 21st @ 7pm through to Saturday 22nd September.
Most of them work for Sun Life insurance company in Waterford. Keith O’Sullivan, one of the organisers says “Our company and colleagues have sadly been impacted by suicide over the years and we have been looking at a way we can help. The idea is that we will use the courts in De La Salle and run rolling half hours/1 hour slots from 7pm Friday though to Saturday 7pm. We will also have some other events – a BBQ and raffles during the day so we can attract some spectators.”
For links to the event/charity see below
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/24hoursquash
http://www.sportsleague365.org/
CURRAGH SENION OPEN – TOUR EVENT No. 1
Date: 13th – 15th September
The first event of the Senior National squash tour took place in The Curragh Squash Club from the 13th to the 15th of September. There were over 100 players entered including most of the top players and in this superb venue it was a huge success. There was 6 men’s sections and 1 women’s. Naas Squash Club also had to be used on Friday and Saturday to cater for this massive entry.
Neil Brannigan and the committee in the Curragh can rightly be proud of the superb work they have put in over the last few months resulting in one of the best squash venues in the country. Four completely renovated courts with 3 new floors, it was a fitting venue for the first national tour event of the year.
The squash didn’t disappointeither with the emergence of Ireland’s top juniors into the senior ranks. The Men’s A final was significant in that it featured 2 of Ireland’s rising stars, Sean Conroy from Dublin and Michael Craig from Belfast. Michael had beaten his fellow Ulsterman Steve Richardson in the semi final the previous night 3-2. Steve has been one of Ireland’s top players for over 15 years so this ‘changing of the guard’ is significant. Sean had a superb semi final win over another up and coming top junior and last season’s No. 1 U17 player in Europe, David Ryan from Sutton, in a tight 3-2 match.
The final didn’t disappoint either with Michael prevailing 3-1 in a very hard fought win, 11-2, 7-11, 11-2, 11-8. The scoreline might suggest that it was an easy win but it was a superb match with some sintalating rallies.
The women’s final also saw the emergence of another top junior player, 16 yrs Griffin Gillanders from Fitzwilliam LTC in Dublin. She met Ciara Moloney from Carlow and even though she went 2-0 down quickly and it looked like the more experienced Moloney, a member of Ireland’s Silver medal winning team from this year’s European Senior Championships, would win the match easily in 3 sets. However Gillanders, came back superbly to win the next 3 sets, 11-7, 14-12, 15-13. So as the score suggests Griffin stedilly got into her rhythm and was hitting very clean drives to prevail 3-2, to win her first senior title.
So with these finals we see the emergence of Ireland’s next generation of talent which hearlds great hope for Ireland’s senior team in the next few years.
In the C and D finals there was also top juniors in the finals – Nikita Gilevisky from Westwood, Dublin and Philip McSweeney from Highfield, Cork fought out a great match which went to 4 sets. In the D final 13yrs Conor Moran from Sutton beat the ‘older’ R. Fay convincingly in 3. Conor is no.8 ranked U13 boy in Europe and is sure to go even higher. He is definitely a player for the future.
The next National tour event is the Munster Open from Cork on October 4th-6th.
RESULTS:
Mens A- M. Craig bt S. Conroy 11-2, 7-11, 11-2, 11-8
Men’s C – N. Gilevisky bt P. McSweeney 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-3
Mens D – C. Moran bt R. Fay 11-3, 11-7, 11-3
Mens E – K. Maloney bt J. Davies – 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9
Mens F – M. O’Hanlon bt JP Luther – 12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 11-0
Womens ‘A’ – G. Gillanders bt C. Moloney 7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 14-12, 15-13
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