Northern invasion of Grampian’s premier junior squash event

"Mr Chips" Grampian Squash Junior Open held on the 8^th-9^th December at Aberdeen Squash Racquets Club, attracted seventy four elite juniors from Renfrew to Orkney.  The Highlands and Islands sent a forceful invasion of junior squash talent to compete at this year’s Grampian Junior Open. Sixteen top players from Orkney, thirteen jointly from Wick and Thurso, and nine from Inverness greatly outnumbered the local entry for this competition. However, Lyall Paterson (Stonehaven), playing in his last Grampian Junior Open ensured that the premier title was won by a local lad as he powered his way into the record books by winning the Division I title. Lyall has played in the Grampian Open from the age of 11 years and has never failed to win his age group title. Now that all Scottish ‘A’ grade Junior squash competitions are ‘Mixed Graded’ events the age and gender restrictions have been removed and all players compete in divisions based on playing ability irrespective of age.

Following a series of qualifying rounds based on individual ranking, players were graded into ten divisions in which they played a succession of league games to decide their final positions. The competition results are used to review the National rankings for juniors in Scotland. Results of the semi- and finals are reported below.

While only two Grampian players won their respective divisional titles – Lyall Paterson (Stonehaven/HWU; Div. 1) and Michael Berry (Garioch; Div 8), 5 other Grampian juniors were runners up – Chris Leiper (ASRC; Div 3), Peter Douglas (Garioch; Div 5), Aaron Thomson (Div 6), Shaun Ramage (Garioch; Div 8) and Robin Scott (ASRC; Div 9). In addition, there were a number of outstanding performances from the Grampian contingent. Well-earned congratulations are also due to the players from all over Scotland who made this event such an outstanding success.

The 1^st and 2^nd placed junior from each division are shown below.

Results

Premier Division 1

semi finals L Paterson (HWU) bt S Allan (ASRC) 10/9 9/7 9/0 : K Moran (DL) bt C Ferguson (Wav) 9/3 9/5 10/8

final Paterson bt Moran 10/9 9/7 9/0

Division 2

semi finals A McCorquodale (Inv) bt D McEwan (ESC) 9/4 10/8 9/6 : D Kempsell (Wav) bt E Urquhart (Inv) 9/0 9/4 9/2

final  Kempsell bt McCorquodale 6/9 9/7 9/6 9/1

Division 3

semi finals L Crombie (Wick) bt J Durrand (Wick) 9/7 9/1 9/4 : C Leiper (ASRC) bt J Georgeson (Wick) 9/3 9/6 9/2

final Crombie bt Leiper 9/7 5/9 9/7 9/3

Division 4

semi finals M Wylie (Kirk) bt E Bews (Kirk) 9/4 9/2 9/10 2/9 9/5 : G Majilton (Wick) bt S Taha (Kirk) 9/4 9/3 9/0

final Wylie bt Majilton 9/6 9/1 9/6

Division 5

semi finals K Gribben (Inv) bt M Everard (Ban) 7/9 9/5 6/9 9/0 9/4 : P Douglas (Gar) bt R Patterson (ASRC) 9/5 9/6 7/9 9/5

final Gribben bt Douglas 9/10 9/7 9/7 10/9

Division 6

semi finals M Ross (Inv) bt S Jefferys (Gar) 9/3 9/3 9/4 : A Thomson (Ban) bt C Rendall (Kirk) 9/0 9/3 9/7

final Ross bt Thomson 9/6 9/5 5/9 9/2

Division 7

semi finals F Richards (Wick) bt C Morrison (Gar) 9/6 9/7 6/9 10/9 : Martin Ross (Inv) bt S Campbell (Wick) 9/2 9/0 9/3

final Ross bt Richards 7/9 9/3 9/7 10/8

Division 8

semi finals S Ramage (Gar) bt K Sutherland (Wick) 9/7 9/0 9/1 : M Berry (Gar) bt M Reader (ASRC) 9/2 9/1 9/1

final Berry bt Ramage 9/5 9/6 7/9 9/1

Division 9

semi finals G Beales (Wick) bt J Hogg (Perth) 9/2 9/10 9/1 9/2 : R Scott (ASRC) bt C Young (Wick) 9/3 3/9 9/7 9/2

final Beales bt Scott 9/0 9/3 9/2

Division 10

semi finals L Beales (Wick) bt A Campbell (Wick) 9/3 1/9 9/7 9/0 : M MacDougal (Wick) w/o

final MacDougal bt Beales 0/9 10/8 9/0 9/1

Grampian Squash wish to thank “Mr Chips” the sponsor of this event. Thanks are also due to the many people who helped run the tournament. Trophies International and Thistle Sport are due a mention for ensuring that the trophies and t-shirts were ready in time for the tournament.