Western Squash Club Championships 2023

With the end of West League season, it was time for the Annual Western Squash Club Championships at the Western Health & Rackets Club in the heart of Glasgow’s West End!

Veteran’s Championship Final (Thursday 20th April, 8PM) – Paul Whiteley v Gavin Dillon

The first final of the 2023 Championships, and what a fantastic match it turned out to be. Paul started strongly, playing an attacking and positive game and taking a 2/0 lead, however the young pretender had other ideas about how things would play out. Cutting out the errors, Gavin pegged the game back, bit by bit, eventually taking the match 3/2. It was a great match for all the spectators to watch and well done to both players for a great performance.

Our actual finals night was on Saturday 22nd April (free bar and burger included!). With several finals being contested, the lineup for the evening was:

4:30 PM – Open F Event Final – Murdo Lindsay v Nico Ferrand

Our first final of the evening was a junior v adult match. Nico started well, taking the first game with his customary French panache. Murdo dug deep however, coming back to edge the second game 15/12. Unfortunately for Murdo, however, the “musketeer” then managed to reassert his dominance, winning the next two games and the ‘F’ grade final 3/1.

5:00 PM – Open E Event Final – Greg Parkins v Aran Gibson

This was the second junior v adult final of the evening, which turned out to be a very tight five setter! Aran won 3/2, taking it to 1 – 1 in the juniors v the adults competition!

5:30 PM – Open D Event Final – Grant Barrack v Mohit Handa

Grant was the favourite going into the match, as the two players had played each other in a box league match only two days previously! However, Mo had clearly used the match to figure out Grant’s game and managed to reverse the result – 3/1 to Mohit!

6:00 PM – Open C Event – Dan Hackley v James Newman

Yet another junior v adult final! Having already faced a junior in the previous round, Dan met James Newman (also of Strathgryffe fame) in the C Event final. Unfortunately for Dan, James brought his “A” game to the match and, despite a very tight second game, managed to take the ‘C’ Event final 3/0.

6:30 PM – Women’s Championship Final – Robyn McAlpine v Beth Moglia

This final was one of the most eagerly anticipated of the tournament, featuring two of our Women’s National League team. Beth was playing well, using her trademark great drops and lobs to relieve the pressure. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the in-form Robyn from claiming her second consecutive Western Squash Club Championship title 3/0.

7:00 PM – Open A Event Final – Peter Halliday v Sandy Niven

This was Peter’s 11th successive club championship final and Sandy’s first. It’s also the first in a long time that didn’t feature Steven Halliday as well! Peter’s experience of the big occasion definitely showed. Sandy pushed Peter hard in the 3rd game, but it couldn’t halt Peter winning 3/o. A 9th Western Squash Club Championship victory for Peter!

Open B Event Final (Wednesday 26th April, 6:30 PM) – Patrick White v Cailean McAlpine

Cailean was up against Patrick who has already played two juniors on his route through to the ‘B’ final. However, Cailean proved to be one junior too far for Patrick. Playing some very steady and consistent squash, Cailean won the ‘B’ grade 3/0.

Full results can be found HERE!

An ENORMOUS thank you to MARTIN McLAUGHLAN WEALTH MANAGEMENT, who very kindly sponsored the event! Lastly, thanks to John Crawford from Townend who was our celebrity referee for several of the matches!