The Roehampton Club Schools Squash Invitation 2009
10th March 2009by Paul Lindsay
The listing was posted by England Squash - South East Area
The Roehampton Club Schools Squash Invitation 2009
On Sunday 8 March the Roehampton Club hosted 10 schools in the 8th annual Schools Squash 
Invitation. An early start for tournament organiser Paul Lindsay (6am) ensured the courts were in ideal playing conditions, the sun was shining and the Club was ready to host another superb tournament. The 10 schools -Dulwich, Epsom, Eton, Harrow, Kings College, Marlborough,Sherborne, St Paul's, Winchester & Wellington- began to arrive from 08:30 with the first matches starting at 09:10, coffee, bananas and other snacks were available as a comfort to mainly the masters for the early start to the day.
The boys began to warm up with the teams (5 players) mainly playing 3/4 court - more attempts at exhibition shots than warm up drills seemed to be a theme!! With the Masters in Charge, the players and parents/spectators alike eager the competition started promptly at 09:10 and some excellent squash got the day off to the perfect start. The matches of 22 minute duration were a privilege to watch as the standard had improved dramatically on last year with the boys getting stronger and learning how to move more efficiently around the court, I dare say this has been something the coaches of the Colleges/Schools have worked on, compliments to them. The games seem to flow quickly and the boys, as well as playing, also refereed the games - thank you for doing such a good job.
A few shock results seemed apparent as 4-time winners Eton were beaten by Winchester in the 1st round. As the day progressed the strength of Epsom, last years winners, soon became obvious as they had nearly the same team from the year before, this time just better, and that included the extremely strong number 1 Matt Costain who had impressed the year before but now with a more relaxed attitude showed the skill and shots he possessed.
The semi finals saw Epsom come up against the vastly improving St Paul's and although Epsom won 4-1 including a meeting of the two best players at 1 string the result was closer than it seemed. The other Semi final saw last years runners-up Harrow take on Sherborne and Harrow were just too strong winning 5-0 but congratulations to Sherborne who in the short time since being invited have made huge improvements. While this was going on a sub-plot was happening quietly as Eton were to play Wellington in the Plate final, and Wellington had beaten Winchester (Conquerors of Eton) in an earlier plate game. Eton were not to be out done and produced some very good performances to win the Plate.
The final, was a re-run of last year, Epsom v Harrow. This match provided all the spectators with some great squash and the boys leaving the court giving everything they had, but as some had predicted Epsom were too strong and won the trophy for a second year, congratulations to them and all those involved. It was a pleasure to organise and watch and I look forward to seeing lots of the players again next year.