On the hottest weekend of the year so far, Exeter Golf and Country Club hosted its first Adult Amateur Squash Graded Event since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
52 players from all over the South of England congregated at the club for a weekend of highly competitive squash. This was the first tournament back for everyone, and the enthusiasm and joy of getting back into competition play was clear to see across all the grades. As usual, the event was ran based around the Squash Levels ranking system which allows organizers to accurately gauge the playing ability of entrants, regardless of where they are from across the UK.
Mike Harris, event organiser said, “It took a bit more organizing than is usually required, given the current COVID situation. All participants were required to do a lateral flow test the day before the event, and the usual rules regarding hand wiping and hand shaking after the match applied throughout the tournament. Everyone adhered to the guidelines really well and it made for a very safe and secure feeling competition. (To have had an event featuring 52 players competing in over 100 matches across the weekend and to not get a single track and trace ‘’ping’’ because of it is a great effort!).”
There were some brilliant performances over the weekend, a couple of the standout ones being from Exeter Golf and Country Club’s own Ioan Sharpe who at age 15 managed to beat several much higher leveled players to win the A Grade event, and also Newton Abbot Squash Club’s Curtis Corby who also defied the playing levels a number of times to take the B Grade title.
Full draws and final results
Thank you to the event sponsors Karakal UK and String Doctor for contributing to some great prizes for all the Grades, and also IproSports who provided some fantastic tournament t-shirts for the weekend.
Mike continued, “It has been great to get back to hosting big events like this and we look forward to continuing with many more in the near future!”
If you would like to get involved in any of these competitions or would be interested in sponsoring at all, please contact Mike Harris at mike.harris@exetergcc.co.uk
