2019 REPORT

The 2019 Club Championship, 17th - 19th May, was proudly sponsored by:

There were 7 well-contested finals in this year's tournament featuring some unexpected players along with some regular faces!


A MAIN FINAL 

The A Main final saw the 2-time defending champion and 1 seed Milo McKenzie face off against 3 seed John Perry, the Northumbria League Division 2 player of the season.  This was the first time in 3 years that the final was not Milo v Rich Hodges, so John's 3-2 victory over Rich in the semi-final was a great result.

John got off to a strong start, winning the 1st game 11-6, helped along by a few errors by Milo. Milo responded well in the 2nd and 3rd game taking them reasonably comfortably 11-2 and 11-3 respectively, with John's marathon semi-final against Rich seeming to have taken its toll. John fought back and gave everything he had in the 4th game and managed to force a decider after taking the game 11-7. The tides turned once again in the 5th game. John finally looked to have run out of steam after his mammoth effort in the 4th and Milo took advantage of this, punishing any loose shots and came out victorious, 11-4, to win his 3rd consecutive club championship title!


LADIES FINAL

We were guaranteed to have a new ladies champions this year with Michelle Fawdon, Eldon ladies no.2, facing off against Eldon ladies captain Helen Dobinson.

The 1st 2 games were very finely balanced and both went the distance, with Michelle taking the 1st game 11-9 but Helen fought back in the 2nd, also 11-9. The 3rd game saw Michelle's technical ability shine through as she pinned Helen in the back of the court and finished well at the front. Michelle took the 3rd 11-5 and despite a more competitive 4th game, going almost point for point to 8-8, Michelle was more clinical at the business end of the game and won 11-8. That gave Michelle the win, 3-1, and her 1st Eldon Ladies Club Championship title!


A PLATE FINAL

The A plate final was a battle of the 3rd team, with no.1 Adam Coates facing no.5 Paul Albone (both players also beat 3rd team players in the semi-finals!).

Paul started the match well, going 10-6 up reasonably quickly, but Adam clawed his way back into the game and levelled the score at 10-10. Paul then won himself another game ball but Adam dug deep and managed to win 13-11. The 2nd was also close and well-contested, but Paul started to struggle physically at the end and Adam took advantage, winning 11-8 and taking a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately for Paul, he was unable to recover and Adam cut straight through in the 3rd, 11-1. This gave Adam a well-fought 3-0 win in the A plate, after losing in the plate final in the 2 previous years!


B MAIN FINAL

The B main final was a match-up between the experienced 2 seed and Walker team captain Steve Drummond and relative newcomer Ryan Richardson, who had already toppled the 4 seed and 1 seed in his previous matches.

The 1st game went all the way to the wire, with neither player able to pull away, but Steve finally managed to take it with some clinical drop shots to close out the game 15-13. The 2nd and 3rd both followed a similar pattern, but Ryan narrowly won both 11-8, with his relentless retrieving getting the better of Steve. The match seemed destined to go to a fifth as Steve used his experience and shot-making abilities to take a 10-7 lead. Ryan, however, had other ideas and made one final push to bring the game back level at 10-10, then finally broke Steve's resistance to take the game 12-10, and the match 3-1! A true underdog story, as unseeded Ryan upset the form book to take the B event title!


B PLATE FINAL

The B event saw Michelle Fawdon, in her 1st of 2 finals, take on Martin Hall. The 2 had contrasting paths to the finals, with Martin winning 3-0 in a reasonably comfortable match, whereas Michelle fought back from 2-0 down to win her match.

This was a very well-matched fixture albeit with 2 contrasting styles; with Martin's faster-paced retrieving approach compared to Michelle's more technical style. Martin took game 1 11-9, but Michelle responded by taking the 2nd and 3rd, 11-6 and 11-9 respectively. The tides turned again in the 4th, where Martin powered through to take it 11-6 and set up a 5th game. The match was finely balanced at 2-2 and despite both players tiring, it was Michelle's technical prowess that proved to be the match-winner as she took an insurmountable early lead and took the final game 11-6. Yet another 3-2 win and for Michelle "5 games" Fawdon!


C MAIN FINAL

The C main final was another that saw youth take on experience. Newcomer Chris Wilde took on Graeme Lumley, an 'original' Eldon Squash member who had recently returned and was on the hunt to win some silverware!

The 1st game went all the way to a tie-breaker where Graeme used his experience to take it 13-11 and then continued his form in the 2nd to win 11-4 and take a 2-0 lead. Chris came back well in the 3rd game and won it 11-6, with some good retrieving taking Graeme by surprise. The 4th game was tense, as Chris started playing better and better, but Graeme just managed to hold out and get the win 3-1, 11-8 in the 4th!


C PLATE FINAL

The C Plate saw Shef Popat, tournament sponsor (Elula), take on another recently returning member, Imran Haq. 

Imran was the dominant force in the 1st game taking it 11-2 and despite a concerted effort from Shef in the 2nd, he took a 2-0 lead, winning it 11-8. Unfortunately, it seemed like Shef's 2 previous matches (a close 3-2 and a 3-1 win in the plate semi-final) had taken their toll, as Imran continued his strong form to win the 3rd comfortably 11-3 and take the C plate title 3-0!


We would like to say a big thank you to all the participants for making this event a success and congratulations to all the winners and runners-up! We hope to see you all again next year!