The Bega Squash Club’s grand finals were played last Thursday night with two real blowout results and two thrillers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Helloworld dominated division one from the outset and were challenged by the only team capable of worrying them in Kellow Parbery.
Kellow Parbery began in promising fashion as the in-form Cindy Turner won 3-0.
Helloworld’s Jock Lee replied promptly with a very mature display against the difficult Alf Buttgereit.
Lee varied his game, which never allowed Buttgereit to settle in his rushing style and a 3-0 win levelled the scores.
The experienced John“not the painter” Watkins continued Helloworld’s surge as he perplexed Matt Emerton with his deft placement.
The lead shifted to a 6-3 advantage.
From there Allan Birchall had the unenviable task of upsetting Chris Thomas, but after a promising start, faded out and lost 3-0.
The final score favoured Helloworld 9-3.
Hanscombe’s Buses finished as minor premier in division two, but faced a stern challenge from PJ O’Brien Electronics.
Peter O’Brien opened the batting for his team and promptly dropped the first game, but recovered to beat Keri Blacker 3-1.
Shaun Row extended the PJ’s lead by defeating (substitute) Baden Edwards 3-1.
Hanscombe’s were 6-1 down, but were still looking for options.
Steve Galeano played an inspired match to beat Kevin Johnson 3-1 to keep the squad’s hopes alive.
Ben Hanscombe was charged with a big task to rescue the team sponsored by his dad.
However, he won the game 3-0, but could not keep Jake Byrne quiet points-wise.
His win had levelled the games at 7-7, but PJ O’Brien Electronics defeated Hanscombe’s Buses by 187-174 on points.
After having won the Division three semi-final, Hotondo homes were confident of knocking off Pell Rixon in the final.
The early matches looked like providing a close finish after Michelle Fitzclarence topped off a great competition by disposing of Justin Marks in fine style.
Her hard work was undone by David Boyle, who squared the ledger by defeating Monique Moon 3-0.
Both squads’ undefeated players dealt their hand, but the teams still had matches to play.
Mark Irvin had a slow start to the squash season coming over from a few years of tennis, but he had improved with every outing and easily accounted for substitute Graeme Duncan.
With Hotondo Homes now trailing 6-3 they needed a repeat of captain Zip Summerell’s semi-final heroics.
It was always a big ask and he put it to Kyle Campbell early and went down fighting 14/15 in the fourth.
Pell Rixon finally defeated Hotondo Homes 9-4.
The match of the night was the first played in division four.
Turingal had finished on top, but sponsor Neil Smith had travelled from Albury to support his Aussie Home Loans team.
Robert Blacker is one of the best finals players in the club, but it was obvious young Nathan Buttgereit was hungry for success.
Buttgereit surprised Blacker, taking the first game with some extreme running and recovery.
Buttgereit then went within a whisker of winning the second, losing 15-14.
He regained composure in the third and had his older opponent doing a lot of work as he surged to a 15/10 win.
It became desperate for the Aussie Home Loans team and Blacker backed up with two close wins.
Kale Galeano extended the hard-won lead, defeating Tony Curtis.
Curtis couldn’t rise to the challenge and Galeano claimed a 3-0 win.
Though they led 6-2, the Aussie Home Loans still faced the real strengths of Turingal’s team.
Undefeated Carrie Ann Halpin kept her title, slamming out a 3-0 win over Tamika Johnson.
This meant the winner of the final match would determine who won the title.
Sarah Eastman for Turingal and Vicki Marks for Aussie Home Loans.
Eastman charged to an early lead for the first game, but spectators expected a comeback from Marks.
Eastman proved slightly too strong, taking a win in the second before clinching a tie-breaker in the third.
Turingal came out on top by the deciding match.
Presentations for the premier teams followed, plus the five undefeated players Jeff Row, Kyle Campbell, Angus Chaffer, Sam Canavan and Carrie Ann Halpin were recognised.
Player of the semis was Zip Summerell and the player of the final was Steve Galeano.
Grading continues this week.