Steve Le Ray, who was to take the title, retrieves against Dave Merrien. (Pictures by Steve Sarre, 0869209)
SEEN off convincingly in the men’s, Guernsey drew consolation from the performance of their juniors and women at the 2009 Scope Furnishing Channel Islands Squash Championships at Beau Sejour.
At under-11 and under-9 level there were home wins for Jack Turvey, Niall Adams, Jack Tacon, Katherine Jensen, Harry Martel and Elliot Bourge.
But the highlight of the weekend was to see Zephanie Curgenven and 16-year-old Issey Norman-Ross meeting each other in the women’s final after beating the three strong Jersey women in Kate Cadigan, Olivia French and Sarah Taylor.
Norman-Ross had a strong match in the quarter-final against Taylor and won in straight games.
She then managed to put out the number one seed and last year’s champion Cadigan in the semi-final.
Despite Cadigan’s great retrieving, Norman-Ross found the right balance between her deep and short shots allowing her to control the T. Despite some long and tiring rallies, the Guernsey schoolgirl kept her lucidity to win the key points and to take the match.
Curgenven’s move to England to become a professional squash player has obviously paid off and her recent professional experience and the consistent training seems to have given her gradual improvement month after month.
Still using her hard-hitting quality to play at a high pace and apply pressure to her opponent, she now knows when to slow down the pace and win rallies without making many errors.
After gaining the Hampshire county title last month, Curgenven duly beat Norman-Ross to claim her second title this year as she steps up her bid to win a place at the Commonwealth Games.
The Taylor family from Jersey entered the history books by taking both the men’s and women’s titles in the first ever CI Racketball tournament.
Sarah Taylor had two close games, first against Guernsey’s Karen Robinson and then in the final against racketball newcomer, Sally Ingrouille.
‘Even though Sarah was too strong this year, the gap will I am sure begin to close as Guernsey is expecting an increase in the popularity of racketball,’ said Ben Rosec, island director of squash.
Nick Taylor not only won the racketball trophy but also took the men’s squash title with authority.
‘Watching Taylor [38] playing makes you realise how important experience is in this game,’ said Rosec.
‘His game vision, shot selection and mental consistency allows him to always keep control during both his finals first against Mike Hopkins and then Mark Stenner in racketball.’
In the over-35 and over-55 men’s events, Steve Le Ray and Neville Johnson held the edge against Dave Merrien and Michael Cotter respectively in the final to give to Guernsey two more championship titles.
But Mark Roberts had to settle for second in the men’s over-45s after being beaten by Jersey’s John Wood who surprised the number one seed with a high pace, volleying style game and some impressive retrieving which forced Roberts into making too many unforced errors.
Henry Birch, back from the UK, was another winner for Guernsey. After beating Ross Kneller in a close five-setter in the quarter final, he only just lost in five for third position against Rosec.
Article posted on 21st November, 2009 - 2.29pm
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