05-06/12/09 - Grampian Junior Open

The Mr Chips Grampian Junior Open was held at Aberdeen Squash Racquets Club at Mannofield over the first week of December. Although the entry was disappointingly small compared with previous years, the event was once again privileged to have players from as far away as Orkney, Fort William and the 'Central Belt'.

Chris 'Mean Machine' Ferguson (WAV), in his last domestic junior open event, triumphed in the Premier division, losing only one game throughout the competition. Although Greg Lobban (INV) contested every point in the final, he only managed to wrest one game from the dominant Ferguson. Three local players finished in the 1st division.

Calum Johnston (KIN) looked an equally comfortable winner of Division 2, dropping only one game in this division to the redoubtable Mhairi Charlton in the final. A strong local influence was once more obvious with no fewer than four Grampian players listed in this division.

The third division proved to be the most evenly matched group, as they recorded the most four and five game matches in the competition. James Wilson (GA), who was stretched to four or five game matches in each of the four rounds, won this division after a titanic four set final with Michael Boyne of Banchory. The unfortunate Gary Beals (Wick) had to pull out of the 3rd/4th place match against Sean Graham (LIN) after developing an Achilles problem while leading 2-0.

The final round in the 4th division produced a series of very close matches that saw the hard hitting David Beaumont (KIN) eventually overpower Kirsty Lobban (INV) in the 4th and 5th games to win the division.

In Division 5, Harry Anderson (WC) after winning an extremely tight 5 setter against Claire Gadsby (CRF) in the 1st round, proved to be the most dominant player winning all his remaining matches 3-0. His final against Craig Valente-Wallace (LL) demonstrated the qualities of both players, with Harry just having the edge in each of the three games. The most unlucky player in this group must have been Andrew Roberts (KIN) who had to withdraw through injury in the final round.

The final in the 6th division turned out to be a local derby, with the up-and-coming star Richard Hollins (MAC) pitted against the ring-rusty Aaron Thomson (BAN). Aaron's lack of competitive games over the past year proved to be the deciding factor as Richard showed more craft in defeating his opponent. Liam Beales (Wick) decided that he quite liked playing four games per match as he fought his way into 3rd spot in this division.

Jamie Bode (KIN) made top spot in division 7 after losing a closely fought four game match in the qualifier against Ryan Gillies (LIN). Thereafter he never relinquished this position as he saw off the rest of his opponents, winning 3-0 in a well contested final against his fellow club player Tino Mackay-Palacios (KIN).

Grampian Squash would like to thank our main sponsor 'Mr Chips', with additional sponsorship from Tesco and Sainsbury's. We also wish to thank Aberdeen Squash Racquets Club for providing the five courts for the event.

report from Scottish Squash

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