Saturday Doubles Results 31st January

_______J/A__S/N__W/O__J/S__A/C_total

Jack & ________8___11___11___11___41
Anna

Sam &____8_______11___10___11___40
Nick

Will &____9___9________7___11___36
Ollie

Joe &_____4__11___11________11___37
Sam

Alex &____5___1____7____9_______22
Charlie

Winners: Jack and Anna

Saturday three-part competition

How did this work? Well it was 4 points backhand half only; then 4 points forehand half only; then 8 points whole court. Why? Well it will help show where player's strengths are and how much they depended on the cross-court option:

Final results as backhand then forehand then whole court and the total

Team A Team B
Sam 2 3 8 13 Jack 4 4 6 14
Guy 4 4 8 16 Alan 3 3 2 8
Alex 4 4 5 13 Joe 1 3 8 12
Conrad 3 3 8 13 Sam Bi. 4 4 6 14
Dan 4 4 6 14 David 1 3 8 12
Lawrence 4 4 8 16 Lawrence 0 0 5 5
Selina 4 4 7 15 Beth 0 3 8 11
Will 4 4 8 16 Josh 0 1 3 4

Team totals 116 80

Saturday Junior Coaching 1st February 2009

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Ollie Thorne
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens, Martyn Symmons, and Nick Dixon
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Mike Macnamee

Comberton Premier team stay in the frame to win the league

Comberton's Junior Premier League team played well last Sunday (18th January) and keep themselves in the frame to win their league overall despite some hard games. The final tally of points is not yet in, but our team got themselves two solid wins in some nail-biting hard fought matches against Hunts County and then against the Leys School.

Nick Hipwell was first up against the whirl of energy that is Hunts County #3 Paul Jordan. Nick looked dazed at the speed and court coverage that Paul is capable of. There were some good rallies but Paul was always there and always capable of pushing Nick deep into the back corners chasing very tight shots. Nick never really found an answer and went down in three. At #2 Tom Symmons had a real battle on his hands against David McDonald who chased everything and matched Tom shot for shot. The match went to five games and really could've gone either way in the fifth - but in the end Tom got a final two points to clinch it for Comberton. Finally Euan Macnamee at #1 had an equally epic battle against Ben May. He won it 3:1 overall but it seemed like more than four games. Euan lost the first game 10:12 but then took the second very convincingly and when pushed into a third game tie break he dug in and wouldn't let go until he got it 20:18! Ben never really recovered from this game-within-a-game and Euan kept up the pressure to win the fourth. So having won that fixture 2:1 overall they had another match against Leys School - and we lost to them in the first half!

Nick had a tough opponent in hard-hitting Ben Randall but he was able to use his drop volleys and reverse angles to push Ben into some awkward corners and win 3:1 overall. Tom was looking very tired at #2 and only took a single game off Ben Northfield. So it was all to play for at #1 spot with Euan facing the volatile Sam Voller. After a game or two seeing who could hit the ball hardest, Euan settled to a much calmer rallying game where he just waited for an error from Sam. It was a tactic that paid off - but only because of Euan's lightning reflexes and accurate retrievals. Faced with such solid defence, Sam started tinning too many shots. Euan won 3:1 proving that there is a lot more to his game than out-and-out attack. So Comberton won that match 2:1 overall as well.

Was it enough to win the league? - let's hope so - some excellent squash was on show from our lads. And Leys School - their main rivals - lost to Hunts County 1:2 in a match against each other.

Complete results were:

Comberton vs Hunts County
1. Euan Macnamee vs Ben May 10:12 11:2 20:18 !! 11:4 - 3:1
2. Tom Symmons vs David McDonald 9:11 11:8 11:5 5:11 11:9 - 3:2
3. Nick Hipwell vs Paul Jordan 1:11 2:11 6:11 - 0:3
Comberton vs Leys
1. Euan Macnamee vs Sam Voller 6:11 11:7 11:8 11:6 - 3:1
2. Tom Symmons vs Ben Northfield 5:11 11:6 6:11 4:11 - 1:3
3. Nick Hipwell vs Ben Randall 11:6 7:11 11:7 11:9 - 3:1

Saturday Junior Coaching 24th January 2009

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final most advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

Both Ashok Babbar and Ollie Thorne - regular helpers with the sessions are away taking their Level 1 coaching course. So good luck to them from all of us at the junior sessions.

Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Keith Maloney
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens, Martyn Symmons, and Steve Swanton
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Mike Macnamee

Mixed results for Comberton’s Junior Third Team

The latest round of matches in the Cambs Junior League Division Two (January 18) saw Comberton enjoying a win and suffering a defeat.

We had to play by far the strongest team in the division, St Ivo, and both Dan Ellwood at #3 and Alex Gooding at #2 struggled to impose themselves on their matches. (Dan hadn’t played competitive squash for a long time, while Alex was short of recent coaching.) Sam Bradshaw, our ever-reliable #1, came up with the goods once again, though, producing a resounding victory over his St Ivo opponent.

Overall result: St Ivo 9 points (including 3-point bonus), Comberton 3 points.

We fared better against Fenland, with Dan getting much more into his match although he couldn’t quite clinch a game and Alex growing steadily in confidence after a shaky start to run out a 3-1 winner. Sam once again stayed well in control despite spirited resistance from a hard-hitting opponent.

Overall result: Comberton 9 points, Fenland 4 points.


Ray Scrivens
Team Manager

Saturday Junior Coaching 17th January 2009

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final most advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

The new Junior Leagues are now posted on the noticeboard and so you can see who you have to play. Matches are the best of 3, point-a-rally to 11. So you should be able to fit one in on a Saturday morning. Ask the coaches to line you up a court to play it on.

Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Nick Dickens
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens, Andy Thorne, and Mike Macnamee
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Mike Macnamee

Saturday Junior Coaching 10th January 2009

Happy New Year to all our juniors!

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final most advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

The new Junior Leagues will be posted today and so you can see who you have to play. Matches are the best of 3, point-a-rally to 11. So you should be able to fit one in on a Saturday morning. Ask the coaches to line you up a court to play it on.

Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Steve Swanton and Keith Maloney
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens, Ashok Babbar, and Mike Macnamee
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Mike Macnamee