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England Squash Harris
Inter County Championships 2009
Men's O50 & O60, 10-11 Jan
Hunts County Squash Club,
Cambs, PE28 9BX, 01480 498114 |
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Middlesex and Kent
win
Harris Inter County titles
Middlesex and Kent have claimed the first two Harris Inter County
titles of 2009, winning the Men’s O60 and O50 respectively after a
competitive weekend at Hunts County Squash Club in Cambridgeshire
... Alison Henley reports
Hunts County Squash Club hosted the Men’s Over 60 and Over 50 Harris
Inter County Finals over the weekend of January 10/11, the first
finals weekend of the season.
A new venue for Harris Inter County Finals, this England Squash Gold
Chartered club, who will also host the British Under 23
Championships 24-26 April, is close to the market town of St Ives in
Cambridgeshire. It proved to be a very popular choice with great
facilities and extremely hospitable staff and volunteers – the under
floor heating system was also a hit on a cold January weekend!
Saturday was semi finals day. The morning fixtures paired close
neighbours Middlesex and Surrey in the 3 man team Over 60’s and
reigning champions Kent against Yorkshire in the 5 man Over 50’s.
Middlesex led by Howard Cherlin easily beat Surrey 3-0. Lancashire
and Kent in the 50’s was a much closer affair with the southerners
going through to the final 3-2.
In the afternoon semis Yorkshire narrowly beat Oxfordshire 2-1,
Martin Day effectively clinched the tie as he came from behind to
win 10/9 in the fifth. Another close match in the Over 50’s resulted
in Durham coming from 2 matches down to beat Bucks 3-2.
Sunday morning was 3rd / 4th play off time. Surrey comprehensively
beat Oxfordshire3-0 to take 3rd in the Over 60’s, while Bucks
narrowly missed out again in the 50’s losing 3-2 to Lancashire.
Some wonderfully entertaining squash was played in the Over 60 final
particularly between 1st strings Howard Cherlin (Middx) and Mike
Clemson (Yorks) which Howard won 3-1. Middlesex proved too strong
for a gritty Yorkshire side as Chris Goodbourn and Russ Shipton beat
Martin Day and John Lucking 3-1 and 3-0 respectively to win the
final 3-0.
Trevor Grant, father of England International Adrian, got the ball
rolling for Kent in the Over 50 final as he beat Brian Duke 3-0 at
3rd string. Kent looked as though they would cruise to a 2-0 lead
with captain Terry Easton 2-0 up, but his opponent Colin Shields had
other ideas and battled back to 2-2 and 6-3 up. A real captain’s
effort however saw Terry triumph 9-6 in the fifth. Kent took an
unassailable lead when Gordon McManus clinched a hard fought 3-2
victory, coming from 2 games down to take the 1st string match. At
2-0 up Philip Crane was awarded the match against Norman Turnball
who retired. James Larcombe recorded the only victory for Durham as
he battled for a 3-2 win against Gary Marshall in a competitive dead
rubber.
Kent dedicated their Over 50 victory to Ian Wright, lynchpin of Kent
squash for over 40 years in his roles as county secretary, treasurer
and council member, who sadly passed away early in January.
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O60 Champions
O50 Champions
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MEN'S OVER 60
SEMI-FINALS:
MIDDLESEX 3 SURREY 0
1 Howard Cherlin bt Patrick Fleming
4/9 9/2 9/2 9/2
2 Chris Goodbourn bt Geoff Hawes
10/8 9/4 9/8
3 Russ Shipton bt Graham Whitehead
9/7 9/4 9/2
YORKSHIRE 2 OXFORDSHIRE 1
1 Mike Clemson bt Tony Wheeler
9/3 9/4 9/2
2 Martin Day bt Mike Rodgers
7/9 9/0 9/3 4/9 10/9
3 John Lucking lost Roger Booker
4/9 5/9 6/9
3RD / 4TH PLAY OFF
SURREY 3 OXFORDSHIRE 0
1 Patrick Fleming bt Tony Wheeler
9/2 9/5 2/9 9/4
2 Geoff Howes bt Mike Rodgers
3/9 10/8 6/9 9/4 9/7
3 Graham Whitehead bt Chris Pullen
9/3 9/1 9/2
FINAL:
MIDDLESEX 3 YORKSHIRE 0
1 Howard Cherlin bt Mike Clemson
9/7 9/0 7/9 9/6
2 Chris Goodbourn bt Martin Day
9/4 1/9 9/2 9/3
3 Russ Shipton bt John Lucking
10/8 9/6 9/6
MEN'S OVER 50 SEMI-FINALS:
LANCASHIRE 2 KENT 3
1 Ian Bradburn bt Gordon McManus
9/1 7/9 9/4 10/9
2 Dave Swallow bt Gary Marshall
8/10 9/7 9/4 9/2
3 Geoff Cross lost Trevor Grant
5/9 9/4 8/10 0/9
4 Steve Dycza lost Phillip Charles Crane
1/9 8/10 9/10
5 Chris Hughes lost Terry Easton
1/9 1/9 4/9
DURHAM & CLEVELAND 3 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 2
1 Dave Lumsden bt Mark Mellett
3/9 9/5 9/7 9/2
2 James Larcombe bt William Priest
9/7 9/0 9/2
3 Brian Duke lost Steve Lewis
5/9 6/9 3/9
4 Norman Turnball bt Ian Burge
9/1 2/9 9/7 9/6
5 Colin Shields lost Chris Gildersleve
9/6 5/9 4/9 6/9
3rd / 4th PLAY OFF
LANCASHIRE 3 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 2
1 Ian Bradburn bt Mark Mellett
9/0 9/4 9/0
2 Dave Swallow bt William Priest
9/1 9/6 9/3
3 Geoff Cross lost Steve Lewis
6/9 7/9 3/9
4 Steve Dycza bt Ian Burge
9/5 9/6 9/6
5 Chris Hughes lost Chris Gildersleve
0/9 9/5 5/9 5/9
FINAL:
KENT 4 DURHAM & CLEVELAND 1
1 Gordon McManus bt Dave Lumsden
0/9 7/9 9/1 9/0 9/5
2 Gary Marshall lost James Larcombe
9/6 6/9 9/4 3/9 2/9
3 Trevor Grant bt Brian Duke
9/5 10/8 9/1
4 Phillip Charles Crane bt Norman Turnball
9/5 9/6 rtd
5 Terry Easton bt Colin Shields
9/4 9/0 8/9 4/9 9/6
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Hunts County
welcomes Harris
Inter County finals this weekend
This weekend the finals of the Men's 050 and Men's 060 of the Harris
Inter County Championships take place at Hunts County Squash Club in
Cambridgeshire.
Defending champions Kent will be bidding to defend their O50
title, but will face stiff competition from last year’s bten
finalists Lancashire, plus Durham & Cleveland as well
as Buckinghamshire, who didn’t feature in the 2007/8 Finals
weekend.
The O60 Finals will see a new champion crowned as last year’s
winners, Worcestershire, failed to reach the final stage. This year
sees Middlesex, Oxon I, Surrey, and
Yorkshire I battle it out to be crowned the first Inter County
champions of 2009.
Spectators are welcomed all weekend, free of charge, for more
information contact the club on 01480 498114.
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Hunts County Club
2009 Dates |
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