25 members enjoy fun squash event and pro shootout
By Mark Toseland
The Tuesday after Christmas saw 25 juniors and adults participating in our fun event. They played various fun team games culminating in the final “shoot the Santa piñata” to test the accuracy of all players involved.
▲ Front: Tom Aplin, Matthew Leung, Joseph Skegg, Sam Terrell, Rosa Gray, Seamus Parker, Ed Watine
Back: Nathan Mead, Tom Ford, Tayne Turnock, Jordan Hardwick, Jonny Harford, Jack Bloomfield
This was followed by the first East Glos Pro Shootout. It comprised six professional players, all with Gloucestershire roots. Each player went up against each other 1 game to 11, with sudden death at 10-10.
The event did not disappoint, with top quality squash on display. Nathan Mead took the honours of “best nick” award (an Oreo Cupcake) with an outrageous rolling cross-court nick from behind himself on the forehand side against Tom Ford.
It came down to the final top two seeds; Tom Ford and Jonny Harford, competing for the coveted prize money of £150 for the winner and £50 for the runner-up.
However, either player needed at least one point to take the runner-up spot as Jordan Hardwick posted a good run of points with the last match in play to contend for the runner-up position on points.
It was looking good for Jordan with Tom Ford leading 6-0 in the final match, but Jonny was putting a stop to all that with a leaping forehand cross-court nick to seal a share in the prize money.
It was great to see the juniors stay and watch the pros play, and for those that stayed right to the end, a picture was taken with them on court as a memento (see above).