Upper Hunter Squash Championship Report: Play spirited by fun and fair

But by 9am the lights were on and there was plenty of noise as players from Muswellbrook and Scone came together for the Upper Hunter Championships.

Tournament director supremo Chris Agosto quickly had matches on all three courts up and running and by the end of the day there were plenty of happy if not tired players after plenty of good competition and good food and drinks to keep the energy levels going.

While five players were backing up from the 2019 championships, the remaining players were playing for the first time and are sure to be back for next year's event.

The Men's A Grade final highlighted the quality of the event with Scone boys Curtis Strong and Nick Havyatt providing some spectacular and thrilling squash action in a five-set blockbuster to end the day.

Needless to say, the crowd watched in awe at some of the insane returns and court coverage by both players with Nick grabbing a 2-1 lead before Curtis clawed his way back to 2-2.

Nick turned the screws again and was leading 8-2 only for Curtis to find something extra to fall over the line 15-11 in an epic battle.

The A Grade Plate saw Bill Coveny and young gun Blake Liverton go blow for blow and at a set apiece the question was who would blink first.

In the end Blake blinked allowing Bill to take the match in four but the experience will see Blake win a lot more matches in the future.

The Ladies A Grade saw Allyson Connors returning to Scone but the time away didn't slow down her squash skills as she kept her nerve to stop hard hitting Donna Murdoch in three but equally happy to take the third 15-13 and not have to worry about any more running for the day.

The Men's B Grade saw a rematch of the Plate final of the Muswellbrook Club Championships between Adrian Barwick and Bruce Webber.

Adrian started the match hoping for a quick result taking the first 15-8 but Bruce chipped away and punished anything loose to square it up at one apiece. However, Adrian shook it off to storm home in the next two set to win a crowd-pleasing match.

The B Grade Plate was equally as entertaining as Scone boys Sam Morley and Elliott Connors slugging it out in a brutal five sets. When the dust had settled it was Sam leaping for joy (in his mind) while Elliott crawled off the court after running himself to a standstill in a thrilling match.

Men's C Grade saw Muswellbrook and Scone's favourite son John Taylor playing a flawless game against hard running Adam Rumsby in an entertaining three sets.

At the end of the day Agosto and Curtis Strong thanked everyone for the attendance and spirit in which the matches were played, and hope people will spread the word next year to make the tournament every bit a success as this year's was.