Ashley Sandyford-Sykes wins Merseyside over 45s Tournament
The Merseyside Closed Squash Tournament is very much part of the IOMSRA Calendar with a group of IOM based players travelling across to take part in the tournament every year. The Tournament took place on 12th and 13th January at Liverpool Cricket Club and as the IOM is affiliated to Merseyside squash we qualify to compete in the tournament and represent the county of Merseyside.
As well as the Open Event the organisers ran Masters events for Overs 35s, Over 45s, Over 55s and Over 65s. Island based players Steve Baker, Jason Blue, Pat Fitzpatrick and Ashley Sandyford-Sykes met up with Oscar Hill at Liverpool hoping to bring some silverware back to the IOM.
In the open event Pat, Oscar, Jason and Ash all progressed to the last 16. In the next round Oscar and Ash won to progress to the quarter finals but Pat and Jason lost so entered the Grade A plate competition. Both Ash and Oscar faced quality opposition in their quarter final matches and failed to get the wins.
Pat and Jason performed well in their Grade A plate matches with Jason eventually reaching the Grade A plate final where he eventually lost 3-1 to Chris Lea, however he did claim silverware in the form of the Grade A plate runner-up trophy. Ash played in the 5th/6th play off match and left everything on court going down 3-2 to finish the open event in sixth position.
Steve Baker competed in the Masters Over 55s event. The trophy was competed for by five players of roughly equal ability so no easy matches. Steve won both his matches on Saturday and his match on Sunday morning which meant he competed against Southport & Birkdale based player, Mark Crompton, with an identical 3 out of 3 record in the final match. This was a really close match and went to a full five games with Mark winning in the end.
Ashley Sandyford-Sykes is incredibly fit and athletic for his age and chose to enter the Master Over 45s event as well as the Open Event. This event like the Over 55s had five entries and used the round robin method to determine the winner. He really did show just what a fine and talented squash player he is by winning this event without conceding a game in any of his matches. So Ash became the Over 45s champion.
All five players enjoyed competing against players other than the usual sparring partners that they play against on a regular basis on the Isle Of Man. They also returned to the IOM with 3 trophies – Steve Baker – Over 55s runner-up, Jason Blue – Open Grade A Plate runner-up and Ashley Sandyford-Sykes Overs 45s winner.
From left to right – Pat Fitzpatrick, Ashley Sandyford-Sykes, Steve Baker and Jason Blue