Mark the date Sunday 16 th June in the calendar. That's when the fourth Upper Hunter Championships will be held at Scone Squash Centre with players from Muswellbrook, Scone, Denman and for the first time, Singleton all welcome to enter with Men's and Ladies Divisions available for all grades.
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Check out the corresponding clubs' Facebook pages for more details but looking forward to some gripping squash action to rival some of last year's matches.
Good luck to all the players competing in the Singleton Open this weekend with a wrap-up of how the Muswellbrook players fared in next week's column.
Saturday Social Hit
The return of Noman "shaken not stirred" Jawaad was a welcome sight as he raced around the court before remembering he hadn't played for months, and his legs subsequently turned to jelly. Another 8 players joined him on the court with plenty of games to keep the heart pumping while the regular couple of doubles games at the end saw the players looking at each other trying to remember whose shot it was while ducking for cover in fits of laughter.
Sunday Morning Juniors
With the end of the school holidays, it was great to see 11 juniors back on the courts ready to run and play. Paul "guess what, do it again" Watson gave the group some warmup activities before the players split into two groups for some round robin action. First timers Grace and Audrey from the all-conquering Muswellbrook High School Girls team were keen to improve their skills while Thomas and Toby were back for their second time to dust off the racquet and enjoy the hit. Regulars Justus and Jax rounded out Group 1 under the watchful eye of Adrian "hopalong" Barwick while Paul took to the courts with Group 2 while Megann "next!" Gibbs and Andrew Lennox had the next players lined up and ready to go. Dominic, Mikayla, Mack, Tristan and Hayley were displaying plenty of improvement with their serves and general play and will only get better as the weeks go on.
Monday Night Round 11
Edward Higgens Parkinson were in good touch to down Double Picc 18 points to 5 with Emma "giggles" Newton holding back the laughter with a close three set win over Deborah "chuckles" Pritchard as both players kept trying to avoid each other in the race for the ball. Royal Hotel overcame Robin Hood's Bar Grill by 17 points to 8 after Julie "by the book" Allen wore down Charlotte "winging it" Sellers after the first two sets could have gone either way with Julie hanging on 15-12, 15-11 before racing away with the third in an entertaining match. Sparke Helmore hold an unbeatable 3 rubbers to nil lead over Railway Hotel with Phil "only a flesh wound" Allen keeping out Daryl "none shall pass" Coveny in a spirited four sets.
Tuesday Night Round 11
Workers Club went to town on Team 6 with a blistering 22 points to 1 victory with Drew "punch-drunk" Anderson gaining his teams solitary point against Belinda "K.O." Stephens in a hard fought four sets. Curtis Gant Betts overcame Hunter Medical Practice by 18 points to 7 with Scott "bragging rights" McCarthy happy to take the points from Noman "baby steps" Jawaad in a crowd pleasing five setter. Noman's first competition game in months saw him scramble to a 2-1 lead before fitness and Scott's doggedness saw falter in the last two games. Muswellbrook RSL Club needed the calculator to take the win over Autopro by a mere 2 points after matches and games were all tied up at the end of the night with Mark "don't hit it at me" Rikard-Bell gaining vital points in his four-set loss to Paul "smash and grab" Watson, the last game going to Paul 16-14 in a thriller.
Match of the week was Monday night's clash between Sparke Helmore's Drew "oxygen tank" Anderson and Railway Hotel's Jono "system failure imminent" Williams as both players ran themselves ragged in a marathon five sets. Jono raced to a first set win 15-6 only for Drew to get out of neutral and take the second 15-8 then moved into second gear to smash the third 15-2. Jono somehow recovered to win the fourth 15-11 setting the stage for a no holds bar fifth set. And so it was with both players throwing everything that had going point for point before eventually Drew fell over the line 16-14 in a cliffhanger.
See you on the courts.
