Prize Winners are shown in the front row, left to right – Max Birchall (3rd place), Ben Leith (Winner), Leighton Ginty (Runner Up), Rob Colquitt (Plate Runner Up), Steve Baker (4th place), Fiona Baker (Plate Winner), Fraser Dorling (Bowl Winner) and Brian Cowley (Bowl Runner Up)
The IOMSRA introduced a new tournament to their Squash Calendar this year, the ‘MYZONE Christmas Handicap Tournament’. The Tournament was well supported with an entry of 32 players. It was hoped to a be a fun tournament to finish the Pre-Christmas half of the season and it didn’t disappoint.
The handicap was worked out by Squash Levels, a database where results of all squash league matches are entered to determine the players level and IOM ranking. It was very difficult to predict how the matches would go as handicapping the matches meant the tournament wasn’t seeded so the draw was entirely random.
In the first round we got a feel for how the handicapping would work, Ben Leith with a handicap of 12 was drawn against Mike Hayler with -12, so Mike had to get 24 points on the trot to get level with Ben. This was a big ask and one Mike couldn’t quite answer, losing in two very close games. Leighton Ginty (12) beat Dafydd Lewis (-12) in a similar fashion. There were some good close three game matches for players with closer starting points differences – Mark Stratford (4) beat Ben Peach (-4); Jon Cox (-3) got the better of Fraser Dorling (3); Steve Baker (-5) defeated Oliver Wait (5); Fiona Baker (10) outlasted Alan McNair (-10); and Beth Jones (3) just squeezed past James Leith (-3).
In Round 2 the first round losers entered into the Bowl Event while players in the top sixteen carried on in the main event. Poor Mike Hayler was on -12 again but this time he didn’t even get out of minus figures in his two game loss to Fraser Dorling who was on 12. However Liam Davies (-11) proved you can make up the points difference when he beat Emma Leith (11), but only just by taking the third game 15-14. Other three game victors were Ben Leith, Nathan Quilliam, Dean Sowerby and Dave Johnson.
We played Round 3 on Tuesday night. In the top eight of the draw Ben Leith and Leighton Ginty continued to impress to remain unbeaten. The other two unbeaten players joining them in the top four were Steve Baker (-4) who just got the better of Liam Davies (4) and Max Birchall (-4) who defeated Harvey Douglas (4), but both these matches went right to the wire. Players ranked from 9 to 16 competed in the Plate Event with Dave Freer, Fiona Baker, Jon Cox and Rob Colquitt all progressing in this event. In the Bowl Event Fraser Dorling, Oliver Wait, Alan McNair and Brian Cowley were all undefeated.
In Round 4 Ben Leith and Leighton Ginty both won their Semi Final matches. leaving Steve Baker and Max Birchall to compete in the 3rd/4th place play off. In the Plate Event Fiona Baker beat fellow committee member Dave Freer and Rob Colquitt just got the better of Jon Cox to set up a meeting in the plate final. The Semi Finals of the Bowl brought young gun Oliver Wait up against Racketeers new recruit Fraser Dorling, with the Racketeer getting the win. It also saw Brian Cowley use his years of experience to give teacher Alan McNair a lesson in squash by winning in two straight games.
The Finals were played on Thursday night. The Bowl Final was between Fraser Dorling (5) and Brian Cowley (-5). Fraser, who has recently returned to squash and is getting better with each match, proved too fast and fit for Brian and took the Bowl title. In the Plate Final, Fiona Baker (-12) played Rob Colquitt (12), a tough handicap for Rob. In the first game Rob pulled it back to 14-14 only to see Fiona win the final point, Rob took the second but started to tire allowing Fiona to take the next two games and the Plate Trophy.
The 3rd/4th play off saw Max Birchall (-10) get the better of Steve Baker (10), as the 20 point gap proved to be too big a gap for Steve to bridge.
The final was between two very promising juniors and stars of the future, Ben Leith and Leighton Ginty. There was no handicap as both players have very close playing levels. The match was very closely contested with Ben just getting the crucial points in each game, winning 15-12, 15-14 and 15-13.
The prizes were awarded by Phil Whittam who is works for MYZONE. The IOMSRA would like to thank Phil and MYZONE for sponsoring the event. It was well supported and highly enjoyable and will become a regular part of the IOMSRA Calendar.
The Tournament sponsors MYZONE produce a wearable fitness tracker that shows and rewards effort when you work out. It displays realtime heart rate, calories and intensity with 5 simple colour coded personalised zones. The telemetry can be displayed collectively for group settings such as boxing or cycling classes, or individually direct to your smartphone. MYZONE simultaneously and automatically creates an online logbook for all your activity. Respected as one of the most `relevant’ wearable technologies for the fitness industry, MYZONE amplifies the group class experience, it provides valuable data for personal training departments and with built in challenges, personal goals, gamification and an online social community, users are motivated to sustain physical activity through a fun, engaging, and inclusive platform.For more details about MYZONE go to – https://myzone.org