Table quiz question -‘have Ireland ever beaten England in a game of squash at any level, EVER!!… the answer finally changed at 7 39 on Saturday evening in Cardiff.  Stevie ‘Curly’ Richardson, Neal ‘Let please’ Murphy, Keith ‘Pop Socks’  Moran,  John ‘Bull’ Hurley  Neil ‘Wired’ Pollack, Nick ‘Limpy’ and Rob ‘Conduct Stroke’ Staunton changed that answer forever. For the first time in many years Ireland beat England 3-2 to win an historic first Home International title. This can only be described as a once in a lifetime result. With every player playing 2 matches over the weekend this was a real team effort. The close 3-2 wins over Wales and Scotland set up the final match with our English foe on Saturday evening.

Neil and Stevie got the match underway and we were all square at 1 match all with Rob Staunton next on.  All hell broke loose at 9-9 in the fourth game with Rob Staunton being awarded a match turning no let on a very simple let ball decision. Suitably heated discussion with the referee then followed with a conduct stroke against Rob and the match awarded to England. The referee correctly was then removed as match referee. No luck of the Irish here. An historic victory did not look likely at 6.45pm.

Up stepped John ‘Bull’ Hurley and what followed was easily the best match of Johns life. The level of shot play, court coverage and sheer bloody mindedness was like something off the Hollywood script. At  9-7 in the fifth game Johns calf muscle went into cramp and he ended up on the floor. He proceeded to play the last 2 points limping on one leg and to win an astonishing match. John rarely says too much but even the quiet man was in full voice by the end of this match. 2 matches all, game on again…

The Irish over 55 Ladies and Men led in full voice by Anne Costello arrived in numbers for the last match. Every shouting voice would be needed. The English side went dead quiet. ‘Good stuff lets keep them that way’ was the whisper. Keith ‘Pop Socks’ Moran had to beat the English squash machine Jamie Goodrich to seal the win. A big ask on any day. Nerves were shot. Could he do it!! Under dog wins always need momentum and a good start. Keith was 10 – 7 down in the first. This was a critical game. A series of nerveless drops, volleys and pick ups saw Keith win five points on the trot to win 12- 10. Jamie Goodrich and England went pale. Those five points changed the match. England shifted in their seats, Ireland screamed their heads off!!!

What followed was simply the best squash Keith has ever produced. To beat Jamie Goodrich requires patience and tenacity. Not known as the coolest head under pressure Keith astounded the crowd with his composure. His shot play of drops, nicks, and straight drives had Goodrich looking more and more confused as the Irish winning momentum continued. 2 games to nil to Keith. The crowd went mad but everyone knew we were close but no cigars…

Keith got off to a good start in the third. All very tight and nervy. Then it happened. Jamie Goodrich the cool English squash machine hit a simple backhand volley into the floor. He missed it by miles!!. This guy does not miss those shots ever. He certainly never hits the floor before the front wall. Pressure! Pressure!! Pressure!!!. He was cracking for sure. The crowd were screaming for it. The English had their heads in their hands. And then our hearts stopped for about 3 minutes. Jamie fought and fought and fought. From 9 – 5 to Keith back to 9 all. Ohhhh No!. Please God No!. And the coolest head in the house was Keith Moran. The next two rallys were played like a summer breeze, both ended with crosscourt forehand nicks like he was just in a practice session. Cue court invasion, screams, a few tears, champagne, beers, wine, shots, brandys….etc. Loved every moment of it.!! Simply the best sporting moment of our lives. Neal Murphy.

Winners and presenters at the prize-giving

Nouran Gohar, the 16 year old Egyptian Squash sensation, took the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open title in front of a capacity crowd. The young Egyptian impressed the crowd with her ferocious hitting and light-footed court coverage. Sarah Kippax, fourteen years her senior, put up a good battle and had the match delicately tied at 1:1, but got slightly unnerved in the third game when two or three decisions didn’t go her way. Gohar, showing no nerves, took the match and title on her fourth matchball. “This is certainly the biggest win of my career to date, and I am particularly happy because I just lost to Sarah in Toronto in like 20mins. I won the Prague Open a few weeks ago, but this is certainly the biggest win to date!”

The men’s final was similarly exciting and went down to the wire. Tournament MC Damian O’Riley had warned the crowd that both players were supremely fit and had featured in some of the longest matches on the PSA Tour to date. And while it wasn’t over two hours, the two battled each other for a good 90 minutes. Adrian Waller took the initiative early and found himself 1:0 and 10:7 up. But the young English player lost his nerves slightly when he wasn’t awarded a stroke at 10:9 up, and he lost the game in a tie-break with three quick errors. Despite losing the third game too, Waller regained his composure and closed the match out playing immaculate Squash in games four and five, but his Scottish opponent Alan Clyne showed unbelievable fighting spirit, returning seemingly lost shot after lost shot.

For the 24 year old this too was his biggest win of his career: “This has been my best result yet – I set myself the goal to win this tournament, which isn’t unrealistic as number two seed. The top four seeds were very strong and close together, so it’s good to get through and I can take a lot of confidence from this. “

A long and exciting week of Squash comes to an end, all made possible by our dedicated sponsors – Cannon Kirk Homes have supported the tournament for ten years, and countless volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. Full match replays should be up on aertv.ie in a few days!

Gaskin, in the red, found no way past Clyne

Arthur Gaskin succumbed to his higher-ranked opponent Alan Clyne in straight games this evening. The Carlowman didn’t play badly, but whatever Gaskin threw at Clyne, the Scottish number one had the answer. Trailing by two or three points for most of the match, Gaskin just couldn’t establish and defend a lead. Nonetheless, Arthur did well to make the semis and the crowd were delighted to cheer on their local hero. Alan Clyne will face Englishman Adrian Waller in tomorrow’s final at 4pm. The world number 26 beat Australian Ryan Cuskelly 3:1. Both Clyne and Waller looked in good shape today, so the final promises to be exciting.

In the women’s draw teenage sensation Nouran Gohar beat giant killer Olivia Blatchford in straight games. Blatchford forced a tie-break in the second, but ultimately found no answer to the young Egyptian’s firepower. Gohar, the event’s number four seed, faces two-seed Sarah Kippax in tomorrow’s final. The thirty year-old beat Tesni Evans of Wales, who had beaten Irish number two Aisling Blake in five games yesterday.

Play starts at 3pm tomorrow and will be streamed on aertv.ie as always!

Olivia Blatchfor, the young American who beat Madeline Perry in five close games

On a day that started with three Irish players in the men and women’s draws, Arthur Gaskin was the only one to stay in contention of a title. The Carlow man held off his steely opponent Mark Fuller in a tight 3:1 encounter, and was delighted to win a tense tie-break in the fourth. Arthur has now reached the semi-finals for the first time, and faces number four seed of Scotland Alan Clyne. Asked about his opposition, Alan Clyne, who had a battled out a tough five-setter against countryman Greg Lobban, said: “I played Arthur before, last time here at this tournament and it went to five. Unfortunately for me, he always tends to play really well in front of a home crowd!” With almost fifty places between the ranking Clyne will go in the clear favourite, but Gaskin will give it his best shot come 6pm tomorrow.

It was a bad day for the Irish women, with both Madeline Perry and Aisling Blake losing in five games. Madeline Perry found herself 2:0 down against her tricky opponent Olivia Blatchford, and despite leveling the match at 2:2, lost the decider 11:8. Olivia surpised everyone, including Madeline, with some outrageous drops from all over the court: “I did have a game plan to begin with: I watched Madeline play Laura Massaro on SquashTV earlier today, and kind of looked for patterns. Madeline is a great attacker, so i really wanted to be the first to attack, to prevent her from attacking me!” The likeable American now faces Nouran Gohar of Egypt, who swept away her countrywoman Yathreb Adel in three games. Fact of the day: Olivia’s opponent Nouran is five years her junior – and Olivia is only 21!

Nouran Gohar and Yathreb Adel - teenage Egyptian Squash phenomenons

With Madeline Perry out of the tournament it was up to Aisling Blake to keep hopes alive, but her opponent Tesni Evans of Wales dug deep to recover from 0:2 games down, to win not only the third and fourth game, but the fifth decisively 11:3. The match was neck and neck throughout and Aisling held matchball in the third, but Tesni’s perseverance paid off. She now faces number two seed Sarah Kippax, who beat Lucie Fialova of the Czech Republic 3:1.

Matches start at 5pm tomorrow, as always streamed on aertv.ie!

Arthur Gaskin, slightly more relaxed than during his match.

In the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open 2014 75% of the Irish contingent made it through to tomorrow’s quarterfinals. The day started brightly with Carlowman Arthur Gaskin making his way past Scot Douglas Kempsell in an epic 3:2 encounter. Arthur went 2:0 up playing to his strengths, but lost his length and his focus. The fifth was touch and go, but Arthur prevailed: “He also really hung in there and made things tough for me, but luckily I found my length again in the fifthh, and got a really good start as well.” Gaskin faces qualifier Mark Fuller next, after Fuller’s opponent and top seed Tom Richards pulled out injured midway through the first game.  “Last year I got to the quarters too, so this year I am obviously hoping to do one better. Though Mark Fuller is a great player, a real seasoned professional who will give anyone a tough game.” Arthur’s match is on at 3pm tomorrow, and will be streamed live on aertv.ie.

Aisling Blake, just after beating Sarah Cardwell 3:0

Irish number one and two, Madeline Perry and Aisling Blake, also overcame their opposition with slightly less trouble than Gaskin. Perry beat qualifier Falcione of Argentina in straight games, conceding only 11 points while doing. Perry faces talented American Olivia Blatchford, who beat the umber seven seed Camilleri 3:0. Aisling Blake, Ireland’s number two, also recorded a 3:0 game, but had her work cut out against Australian Sarah Cardwell.

“Yep, that was a tough 3:0, that puts it pretty well. Sarah used to train in Amsterdam so I know her from there (Aisling is based in Amsterdam), and she has improved a lot since. She has great coverage and is very quick, so you need to find the corners against her.” Blake faces Tesni Evans, the Welsh player who is just behind Aisling in the world ranking and the event’s number five seed. “We played each other in Orange County last year and I lost in five, but tomorrow is a new day. Also, we are playing on the center court tomorrow in front of a home crowd, so I am looking forward to the match!” Madeline’s match will be on at approximately 6pm, while Aisling is on at 8pm – both live on aertv.ie.

Lastly, yesterday’s hero Bryan Byrne lost to number three seed Ryan Cuskelly, who was too strong for Ireland’s number two. Byrne was close to winning the fourth, but ultimately the Australian, a world top 50 player, was too strong. Bryan had a great run though and will be supporting his Irish compatriots throughout the rest of the tournament. Dan Z.

Some photos taken during the recent European U19 Championships in Finland.

The 2014 Irish Open is streaming live for the full time of the event from Wednesday 2pm – 9pm, Thursday 2pm – 9pm, Friday 5pm – 9pm and for the Womens final @ 3pm and the Mens final @ 4pm. Go to http://sportslive.aertv.ie/video/?bctid=3495352511001

There will be full commentary with Dan Zilic and other guest commentators.

There are 4 Irish players in the main draw – Brian Byrne who made it through the qualifiers and plays no. 3 seed Ryan Cuskelly from Australia at 7pm on Wed and  Arthur Gaskin who plays qualifier Doug Kempsell from Scotland at 3pm. In the Womens event No. 1 seed Madeline Perry plays Antonelle Falcione from Argentina with Aisling Blake playing Australian Sarah Cardwell.

There is a vacancy for a Club Development Officer within Ulster Squash. See job description and application form  below.

Job Description http://www.irishsquash.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2014-Club-Development-Officer-Job-Description.docx

Application Form http://www.irishsquash.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2014-Development-Officer-Application-Form.doc

JOB TITLE                                Club Development & Coaching Officer

REPORTS TO                           Director of Development

JOB BASED                              Northern Ireland

Ulster Squash is the governing body for the sport of squash in Northern Ireland. As part of our ongoing strategic development in partnership with SportNI, we wish to appoint a Club  Development & Coaching Officer with responsibility to develop squash with clubs and schools, including the continuation of an Ulster Squash Clubmark scheme.

Birgit Coufal makes the main draw thanks to some vociferous support from fellow Austrian Jakob Dirnberger

On the second day of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open 2014 the crowd were treated to some exciting qualifying finals. Birgit Coufal of Austria had the honour of kickstarting proceedings with a superb match against Victoria Temple Murray of England. Temple Murray is a tough customer hitting tight crisp shots, but Birgit outwitted her younger opponent with her varied game of drops and flicks. She also said that it helped having some home support in form of Jakob Dirnberger, who supported and coached her throughout her 3:2 victory. The following matches remained at a very high quality, with Tamika Saxby of Australia beating young German Franziska Hennes 3:0, and then Carrie Ramsey of England beating Anna Kilmundokcva of the Czech Republic three games to one. Argentinian Antonella Falcone rounded the day of with a convincing 3:0 victory over Chloe Mesic of France. Looking at the quality on display today it was no wonder that the Irish locals had lost in yesterday’s matches, though they gave a good account of themselves and we were thankful for the ladies making their way down to compete. In particular Griffin Gilanders and Fiona Powers had to come straight from the airport following the European junior team Championships in Finland. While the young girls had their work cut out against strong opposition, we look forward to seeing them come back stronger next year.

In the men’s field local lad Sean Conroy began the day against Douglas Kempsellof Scotland. Sean fought

Today's hero Bryan Byrne, backed in the background by Spaniard Carlos Cornes

valiantly and took the second game thanks to a change of tactics, varying the pace more and using better height (Derek Ryan was in Sean’s corner). The third and fourth were hard fought and Kempsell looked nervous, but he ultimately pulled through 3:1. While Sean was disappointed with the loss, he was happy to have given the good crowd plenty of reason the cheer. Ireland’s number one Arthur Gaskin faces Kempsell tomorrow at 3pm. Next match between Mark Fuller and Steven London was more straight forward, with Mark emplyoing the lob and boast to great effect, finally frustrating his opponent sufficiently and wrapping up the match 3:0. He faces top seed Tom Richards tomorrow. Young Spaniard Carlos Cornes was the next to qualify for the main draw, beating the young Belgian van de Herrwegen 3:0, after a tight tie-break in the first game. The last match was the most dramatic of the day, with Bryan Byrne, who retired from professional Squash some eight years ago, overcame all odds by beating Tom de Mulder of Belgium in five exciting games by three games to two. Byrne’s mobility and quickness were the key here, and he retrieved shot after shot, oftentimes balls the crowd had given up long ago. Byrne faces Australian Ryan Cuskelly at 6pm tomorrow evening.

The busy day begins early tomorrow at 2pm, with all men’s matches being streamed live on aertv.ie. From Thursday on both women’s and men’s matches will be streamed – lets hope there’ll still be some reason to cheer on the Irish then! Admission is, as always, free! Dan Z. 

Sean Conroy, one of two Irish heroes on Monday

The two qualifying round of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open 2014 began on Monday at 2pm in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club. Professionals in both the men and women events battle it out for the eight open spaces in the main draw, with some local players mixed in. Now normally the locals have a tough time playing full-time professionals, oftentimes not used to the pace and skill level professional players have to offer. This was true for the women: neither Griffin Gilanders, nor Ciara Moloney, Fiona Power or Jody Hannon were able to trouble their opponents, all losing out in less than twenty minutes each. As a matter of fact: of seven matches, only one crossed the twenty minute mark.

The men’s event was a different story though, with Sean Conroy, currently ranked 261 in the world and playing his first year on the professional tour, beating seasoned pro Jakob Dirnberger (world number 220, Austria) in straight games.

“The rallies at the beginning of each game were really tough, but luckily I was able to keep the pressure up, and Jakob tired slightly towards the end of each game. I am really delighted, especially since I was a bit disappointed with my performance in the qualifying round last week in Galway, where I lost to Anthony Brindle 3:1.”

Sean faces the highest ranked player in the qualifying event, Douglas Kempsell of Scotland, the world number 125.

“I have never played him gut he looks like a very strong and steady player. But I hope I can repeat today’s perfomance with some good local support!”

Sean kicks proceedings off tomorrow at 2pm on Fitzwilliam’s center court. Connor O’Hare, who recently qualified for the Irish national team for the European Team Championships, showed a gritty performance against Belgain Jan vd Herrewegen, but ultimated lost 0:3, despite extending two games to tie-breaks.

Last on court was Bryan Byrne, who will have been very happy beating Englishman Reuben Phillips, world number 132, by three games to two. Bryan has had some busy squash days recently: he played the qualifying event in Galways, as well as the Irish tour event (where he finished second to John Rooney). Inbetween he had some quality training sessions with Irish number one Arthur Gaskin that seem to have paid off, for what amounts to one of Bryan’s best wins in recent times. Byrne, also a national team player, faces de Mulder of Belgium tomorrow, who won a thrilling yet borderline ugly encounter against Joe Green of England, also 3:2.

Men and women kick off tomorrow at 2pm – fingers crossed that one of the Irish lads can repeat today’s heroics and qualify for the main draw! Dan Z.