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Geneva take the 5 Nations
Challenge
Beachill and Willstrop Senior in Milan ...
26/27 May |
 Milan
sounds like a good idea to most people, and both of us had fond
memories of previous visits, so it was hardly a problem accepting
an invitation to Polisquash, home of Duncan and Gordon
Steele, formerly of Cambridge but long time of Milan. |
THE DRAW
Club Championship
Club Championships Final:
Marcus Cerutti bt
Domenico Cerabona (An Italian National team member) 3-2, for his
5th consecutive win
Ladies Final:
Chicca Ferrari (Italian National Team member) bt Cristina Di
Sacco 3-0
Plate Final:
Roberto Molteni bt Claire Berrett (yes, Marcus's wife) 3-0
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Father Gordon and better half Lucia hosted us on Thursday night at
their home in Lodi and as Gordon headed for his second - or
first - home, the golf course, he dropped us off at the club the
next morning, where we were met by Duncan, Bronwen his
daughter who works at Cannon's in London, and Marcus
Berrett, formerly of Queen's Halifax and recently
installed as club professional at Polisquash.
 Lee,
looking forward to a relaxed weekend after an arduous season, was
soon made aware of his playing responsibilities, as eight
teams assembled for an International team squash tournament.
Music had been arranged for Saturday night at a local
restaurant and he would also be required to rehearse. Singing with
local, talented musicians was regular performer with 'Lost for
Words' Martin Sunderland, representing Queen's Halifax, who
brought a party of 30.
Lee, Marcus and myself were engaged to provide some squash
entertainment, assisted by Mario and Cristina, two locals,
on Friday evening after the Polisquash Club Finals. The men's
final, an entertaining affair, had exhausted the crowd so we
gave them a shortened version which went down well enough.
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A
barbecue outside the club brought proceedings on Friday to a close
with the Five Nations tournament beginning early on Saturday
morning.
The draw read as follows:
Queens Halifax v United Nations
Chichester v Beindersheim, Germany
Polisquash v Edinburgh Sports Club
Polisquash Ladies v Geneva
 The
outcome of several of the matches depended on the state of the
players, which depended on how much sleep they had had and how
much alcohol they had consumed - very little in the first
instance, a great deal in the second.
In the event it was Chichester, led by Peter Genever - who does
remind me of Chris Martin - who took on Geneva in the final, whose
number one was British U19 champion Chris Simpson.
Chichester had certainly been sociable and Geneva it was
who were proudly victorious.
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Saturday night at the Carlsberg
restaurant, who generously sponsored the drink, with 140 or so
in attendance and the excellent musicians, including "Rockstar"
Massimo, providing the entertainment, was an unqualified success.
 The
atmosphere at the friendly Polisquash Club, where everything
revolves around the affable Duncan, who with Bronwen and his staff
worked his socks off, was perfect for the weekend. The squash
which brought together players of widely differing standards was
competitive and sporting and in truth a great time was had by all. |
 Lee
worked hard and had to undergo a severe test when called upon to
do a cabaret act in front of everybody, which entailed making
sounds to enable a partner to decide what was written on a card
displayed by Duncan.
I bled for him and was relieved that I was unimportant enough not
to be asked to perform.
He was heard 'clucking' to imitate a certain bird, but a
word which rhymes readily with clucking suitably described his
misery. Where Duncan got the idea from, which apparently he was
proud of, cluck knows.
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On
Sunday I went to Vico, home of Tim Simpson, once of York,
to coach some of the best Italian juniors, organised by Tim and
Diego, the Italian National Junior Coach, who is doing an
excellent job. They were all competent and one or two showed a lot
of promise.
And so home on Monday, when we should have been refreshed by the
sunshine and hospitality in a beautiful city. Instead, as is so
often the case, we returned in need of a rest!
2007 is the twentieth year of Polisquash, so it is guaranteed that
it will be a special celebration next May.
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19-Apr-06:
Five Nations Assemble in Milan
You all know that Marcus Berrett, the Yorkshireman who
cleaned up on the BSPA circuit in 2004 and 2005, recently moved to
Milan to take up a coaching position.
 He's
been back to Blighty for the odd game, but it looks like he's having
great fun in Italy, setting up the "5 Nations Championship" at his
Poli Squash Club, featuring teams from Italy, England,
Switzerland, Scotland and the Republic of Yorkshire.
You can find more details on his club's website, including a
must-see video promotion for the tournament that Marcus admits
"was a bundle of fun to do".
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CHECK OUT
THE VIDEO
All about Marcus |
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World No1 Lee Beachill , together with Adrian Grant (w.No 12)
Laurence Delasaux (European Junior Champion) Davide Bianchetti (No1
in Italy w.No 24) Pete Genever (w.No.30) and of course Marcus
Berrett will be heading the next “5 Nations Squash Championships” on
the Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th of May at POLI SQUASH
SPORTS&FITNESS CLUB, MILAN. Representing the ever popular POLI
SQUASH ladies team will be Manuela Manetta No1 in Italy(w.No41) and
the 6 time Italian champion Sonia Pasteris.
The 5 Nations Squash Championship is a one of a kind tournament,
each team is made up of 9 players, the No1’s being World class to
the No9’s being newcomers to this great sport.
Each team will play 3 matches, each match being 3 games American
scoring to 15 points with the total number of points going towards
the teams total. The professionals will play 2 games to 11 American
scoring so as not to affect too much the total score.
On the Friday evening 26th May the Finals of the Poli Squash
Sports&Fitness Club Championships will be held. Also on the same
evening Lee Beachill and Marcus Berrett will give an exhibition with
expert commentary from Malcolm Willstrop. To end the evening we will
have a BBQ to welcome the teams arriving from abroad.
The program on Saturday will be the same as last year. The matches
start at 9am the first on court will be the No 9’s playing through
the order so the last on court are the pro’s.
The afternoon program starts at 4pm with the same playing order.
The Saturday ends with the dinner at CARLSBERG. The evening’s
entertainment will be increased this year, not only will Massi The
Rockstar be playing some tracks from his new cd “There is more to
come” , there will Sunders on the vocals and Lee Beachill on the
Guitar and on bass Andrea “The Tower” Torricini bass player from the
famous metal band Vision Divine. The evening could finish off with
the appearance of a very special guest.
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