Dumfries Sports Club

Last weekend saw the culmination of Dumfries Squash Club’s successful season with the Club Finals and annual awards evening at the Club.

Jim Thorburn Handicap winner Davy Rogerson with Squash Club Chairman Keith Gristwood

In the team events, sponsored by John Henderson & Sons, the convincing winners of Division 2 were Dumfries Cricket Club, led by their captain Chris McCutcheon, who will now be promoted to Division 1. Division 2 runners-up were Cisco Systems. The winners of Division 1 were So Below who were pushed all the way by runners-up Bard Vet.

The Jim Thorburn Handicap competition is Dumfries Squash Club’s most popular tournament and attracted over 50 entries as its handicap system provides everyone with a chance to win the competition. After five rounds of prior games, the final was a close contest with Davy Rogerson emerging as the winner of the Jim Thorburn Handicap trophy defeating Iain Anderson 2-0 despite his handicap of 18 points. Iain, however, had his chances to win the second set and but for a few loose shots could have taken the final to a third set.

The Ladies Club Championship was played in a round-robin format this year due to a lack of entries with Alice Thompson securing runner-up and Sue Strachan retaining her title as Ladies Champion for another year. Read the rest of this entry »

Dumfries Squash Club has had a very successful season on the Scottish Squash Masters circuit. The club’s Chairman, Keith Gristwood, announced “we are extremely proud that our club in such a small town continues to push well above its weight nationally in that six of our members have been selected to play for Scotland at the forthcoming Masters Home Internationals series which commenced last weekend. It is a major achievement which every member of Dumfries Squash Club should be proud of”. He continued “as such Dumfries Squash Club is probably the best squash club in Scotland”.

L to R - Ronnie Carter (Lockerbie), Davy Rogan, Faith Sinclair, Sue Strachan, Abbie Robertson, Jimmy Wells

Sue Strachan has been selected to play for both the Over 35s and Over 40s Ladies and will be playing in Cardiff and Nottingham while Faith Sinclair was selected for the Over 50s Ladies and will be playing in Dublin.

In the men’s Masters tournaments competitors gain ranking points and at the end of the 8-tournament season the top four players gain automatic selection to their respective age-group teams along with the selection of two wildcard players, typically the players occupying 5th and 6th in the national rankings.

This year, Davy Rogan and Abbie Robertson have once again been selected for the Over 70s team and will play in Dublin while Jimmy Wells was selected for the Over 45s team playing in Nottingham. Keith Gristwood was initially selected as first reserve for the Over 50s team but had a late call-up into the team also playing in Dublin.

Lockerbie’s Ronnie Carter was also selected for the Over 45s team as was Russell Hunter, an ex-Lockerbie player now residing in Tyneside.

Any squash players interested in being a part of the success of the club can call in at Dumfries Sports Club at Nunholm or visit the website: http://www.dumfriessportsclub.co.uk for further information.

Dumfries and Galloway Standard

Congratulations to the following Dumfries Squash Club players on their selection for the Scotland teams in the forthcoming Home Internationals Masters series.

• Sue Strachan
• Faith Sinclair
• Jimmy Wells
• Abbie Robertson
• Davy Rogan

Ronnie Carter of Lockerbie was also selected.

Squash coaching sessions have been arranged for the dates below. Please enter your name on the sheet on the squash noticeboard. It’s first-come first-served and limited to 2 participants per session, ideally of a similar standard, to ensure maximum benefit.

Tuesday 13th April – 7.15pm
Thursday 22nd April – 7.15pm
Friday 23rd April – 7.15pm
Friday 23rd April – 8.00pm
Tuesday 27th April – 7.15pm

Participants will each be responsible for payment of a court fee (£1.60) and this should be paid to one of the bar staff prior to the coaching session.

Future dates for coaching sessions will be announced as arranged with the coaches.

The Squash Leagues for April are available on the site and can be found here or by following the Quick Link in the right hand column.

The summer leagues start in May.

Dumfries Squash Club was represented at the ultimate Scottish Squash Masters tournament of the season, the Scottish Nationals in Aberdeen and came away with two titles and two runner-ups, even though several players missed the tournament due to injury or other commitments.

Davy Rogan comfortably won all of his round-robin matches to secure the O-75s title and top the Scottish rankings again.

In the O-45s current Scottish Champion Jimmy Wells was in excellent form once again.

He won his quarter-final 3-1 and in the semi-final he defeated Lockerbie’s Ronnie Carter 3-0.

In the final he faced Mike Spalding who had just moved into the O-45s. In a close first set, Wells took a 5-1 lead but was under constant pressure and a burst racket string broke his momentum resulting in losing 9-7.

In the second set, Wells struggled to regain control and lost that 9-3. In the third set, he again took a strong lead only to be pegged back and finally losing 9-6.

While not retaining his Scottish title, Jimmy Wells could take some comfort from topping the O-45 Scottish rankings. Read the rest of this entry »

You can read about the culmination to the squash season in the Dumfries Squash Club March Newsletter which is available here: Squash Newsletter – No.4 Mar 2010 (in PDF/Adobe format)