The Kent County Championships 2010 Round Up

Ford and Brind reclaim their county crowns!

Bexley duo, Ben Ford and Steph Brind reclaimed their county championship titles in contrasting fashion as Ben fought off the challenge for Park Langley’s Steve London, edging him out in a 5 set thriller, whilst Steph beat Bromley’s Keeley Seamons in straight sets. The men’s plate was contested by junior under 17 team mates Josh Masters and Elliot Knight, which was won 3-1 by Elliot. They put the rest of the plate competition to shame by not only making the final but managing to do so and play an inter-county weekend at the same time at Maidstone Squash Club! Get practicing Mote lads!!

The women’s event kicked off on the Saturday and as there were unfortunately only 5 entries, this meant that after Catherine Ruffle played her Quarter final against Gina Kennedy, which she won 3-0, we went straight to the semi finals.

The first semi saw Steph Brind take on Catherine Ruffle. Steph was in no mood to hang around as she raced past Catherine 3-0 with the loss of only 6 points. In the other semi, Keeley Seamons was too hot to handle for Lucy Murphy as she closed out the first game 9-6 before turning up the heat and blitzing the next two, 9-0, 9-0!!

The 3^rd/4^th playoff saw a real battle between Lucy Murphy and Catherine Ruffle take place. Catherine started off strongly taking the first game 9-1 before Lucy battled back and took the next two 9-3, 9-0! Catherine turned it around and took the 4^th 9-4 before a thrilling finale saw Lucy edge out the 5^th game 9-7 to win the match and claim 3^rd place.

In the final, Steph raced away to a 7-1 lead in no time before Keeley managed to pull the game back to 7-7. Steph then upped the pressure and took the game 9-7 and kept it going as she won the next two 9-2, 9-2 to reclaim her Kent County championship title.

The men’s weekend kicked off on the Friday with no notable upsets. Special mentions to Simon Humphrey for pushing Malcolm Parker to 4 games, to Hany Abou Taleb to pushing Adam Young all the way to 5 games and to Tom Woods and Adrian Humphries for their inspired 20-18 game 3^rd game which kept the Mote crowd entertained (or rather had most of the mote club members laughing at Adrian!) Also a special mention has to go to veteran, Mark Steeden in his first match back after a prolonged injury which has kept him out of the game for over a year. He did well to push 5/8 James McMeckan, coming agonizingly close to forcing a 5^th game but just came up short, losing 12-10 in the 4^th.

The second round saw things going to seedings, with James Evans, the youngest competitor in the tournament, doing incredibly well to take ¾ seed, Issa Kamara, to 4 games. After narrowly losing the first 13-11, he took the second 11-7 before going down 11-6, 11-8 in the next two. Tom Woods unsettled Steve London with his trickery and touch to take the 2^nd game before Steve regrouped and took the match in 4. Ted Jeal defied the odds for the 2^nd day running by turning up (early) to beat Canterbury’s Imran Khan in a closely contested match, with Ted edging through in 4.Well done!

The quarter finals saw Ben Ford advance with a straight sets victory over Malcolm Parker. Issa Kamara and Duane Harrison continued their rivalry and were involved in one of the longest matches of the tournament with Issa edging through 3-1 after a series of brutal rallies! Steve managed to stop the run of hard hitting Ted, beating 3-1 with Ted unlucky not to take the 4^th game! Neil baker rounded off proceedings with a straight sets win over James McMeckan who clearly looked tired from his earlier encounter with Joe Magor….NOT!

The semi finals proved to be a real battle with Steve London and Neil Baker kicking off (not at each other!) the first of the two. Yours truly got the opportunity to mark as the rest of the club seemed to be sporting an “I’m not marking” T-shirt!!! The first game started with both players playing conservatively, neither really going for shots. Neil took the first game 11-6, pinning Steve (who looked like he was going to get everything back!) in the back corners. The second was a very tight affair with both players trading winners as well as mistakes. With the players dead even at 8-8, Neil tinned to give Steve the lead at 9-8 and tinned again to give Steve game ball. A straight nick made it 10-9 before yet another tin from Neil game Steve the 2^nd game 11-9. The third game was a nightmare for Neil as Steve raced to an 8-1 lead courtesy of 6 shots in the tin from Neil! Steve closed it out 11-1. In the 4^th Steve took the lead and never looked back as he lead 9-5 with Neil making more uncharacteristic mistakes before wrapping up the game 11-6 and the match 3-1. Steve London through to the final.

In the other semi, Issa Kamara was quick to start (or Ben was slow to start, whichever you choose to believe!) and raced to a 7-4 lead. Moments later, lssa held game ball at 10-4. Now, to those against PAR 11 scoring that say that players (even pro players) give up and let the game go if the other builds up too big a lead, take note! Despite being 10-4 down, Ben battled back and slowly pulled the points back to reduce the deficit to 10-9 before Issa finally managed to close it out 11-9. Ben took this momentum into the next two games as he raced away with them 11-2, 11-4 to set himself as favourite to win in 4. Issa had other ideas and raced to a 5-1 lead in the fourth and lead 9-4 before winning the game 11-6 to set up a deciding 5^th game. Honours were even up till 5-5, when Ben started to pull away and Issa could only manage one more point as Ben won the game 11-6 to end an entertaining semi final and advance to the final.

The eagerly awaited final was just what everyone was hoping for. Admittedly, before the tournament I hadn’t counted on Steve playing so well and getting into the final as in the past I have seen instances of lapses in mental concentration on his part resulting in temper loss and interesting selection of shots but not this weekend. In his semi against Neil, there was no evidence of this at all and in the final against Ben, Steve saved his best for last!

Ben started off in the first hitting some outrageous winners including a forehand volley boast in the nick to which one of the Mote supporters commented that he’d shown Ben how to play that shot!! Steve did brilliantly to weather the storm as Ben had him running to all corners of the court but Steve chased every ball down even on the occasions that he’d been wrong footed, leading Ben to start making errors. Despite this, Ben still nicked a tight first game, 12-10. The 2^nd game was the same as Steve did the lion’s share of the running but it paid off as he lead 9-6 before Ben came back to square things at 9-9. Steve managed to close out the game 11-9 in a tense finish to tie the match at 1-1. By this point, most of the supporters were wondering how much longer it would be before Steve’s gas tank ran out as the third game continued in the same fashion as Ben pushed Steve all over the court, taking time away from him and making him cover a lot of ground but Steve soaked up all the pressure and kept up with the pace mounting a stunning comeback from 6-9 down to win 12-10 and take a 2-1 lead in the match to stun the crowd! Even more stunning was the 4^th game which saw Steve jump to a 6-2 lead to leave people wondering if Ben couldn’t break him down and contemplating a possible upset! Showing complete disregard for the score line, Ben suddenly starting hitting Nicks and winning cross courts as he took the next 8 points to lead 10-6 before closing out the game 11-7 in a manner that was described as ‘ridiculous’ by the spectators (or maybe it was just me!!), to set up the deciding 5^th game. The 5^th game was another close affair as scores were even throughout the game with both players covering a lot of court. Ben finally edged it out 11-9 to reclaim his county title and leave Steve agonizingly close to his first county crown. The crowd erupted after such an entertaining final! And rightly so! Steve clearly displaying a noticeable improvement in his mental and physical game!!!

And that was that!

Before I go, I’d like to thank Alan Thatcher for helping to organize the event and getting prize money for the semi finalists and finalists. I’d also like to thank John from JW Sports for providing a mobile shop for sports goods and for my new bag!! Also, a big thanks to Sharon Evans, Joe Wheatley and Greg for running the bar/food during the weekend and last but not least to all the players and spectators for making the event entertaining and a pleasure to run (even though most of the mote supporters spent half the time laughing at their own club players when they were getting chopped by Kent’s finest!!!)

Special mention to Jonny “Your behavior is ridiculous” Powell and Malcolm “Woohoo” Parker for being their usual legendary selves on the big night out as well as James McMeckan and Hadley Neale for contributing to an entertaining night! Part two kicks off on the 27^th of November at the Canterbury Open!!

Full scores below

1^st Round

Joe Magor (Canterbury) beat Paul Jenner (Mote) 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 16-14)

(5/8) Malcolm Parker (Canterbury) beat Simon Humphrey (Mote) 3-1 (11-4, 11-6, 14-16, 11-5)

Jonny Powell (Mote) beat Ryan Duke (Mote) 3-1 (11-4, 14-12, 6-11, 12-10)

Martin Clark (Rodmersham) beat Paul Adam (Mote) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8)

James Evans (Mote) beat Joel Durston (Kent Uni) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-8)

Hadley Neale (Mote) beat Elliot Knight (Bexley) 3-1 (11-5, 11-3, 11-13, 13-11)

Tom Woods (Rodmersham) beat Adrian Humphries (Mote) 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 20-18)

Adam Young (David Lloyd) beat Hany Abou Taleb (Canterbury) 3-2 (11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-3)

(5/8) Duane Harrison (Waterfront) beat Josh Masters (Maidstone) 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-7)

(5/8) Ted Jeal (Bexley) beat Paul Newvell (Mote) 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 18-16)

Imran Khan (Canterbury) beat Graham Cutting (Waterfront) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-5)

(5/8) James McMeckan (Canterbury) beat Mark Steeden (Bexley) 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-0, 12-10)

(3/4) Issa Kamara (Tunbridge Wells) beat Richard Byrom (Mote) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-8)

2^nd round

(1) Ben Ford (Bexley) beat Hadley Neale (Mote) 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-5)

(5/8) Malcolm Parker (Canterbury) beat Adam Young (David Lloyd) 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-7)

(5/8) Duane Harrison (Waterfront) beat Jonny Powell (Mote) 3-0 (11-8, 13-11, 11-8)

(3/4) Issa Kamara (Tunbridge Wells) beat James Evans (Mote) 3-1 (13-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8)

(3/4) Steve London (Park Langley) beat Tom Woods (Rodmersham) 3-1 (11-4, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4)

(5/8) Ted Jeal (Bexley) beat Imran Khan (Canterbury) 3-1 (4-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-8)

(5/8) James McMeckan (Canterbury) beat Joe Magor (Canterbury) 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-9)

(2) Neil Baker (Rodmersham) beat Martin Clark (Rodmersham) 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5)

Quarter Finals

(1) Ben Ford (Bexley) beat Malcolm Parker (Canterbury) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-9)

(3/4) Issa Kamara (Tunbridge Wells) beat (5/8) Duane Harrison (Waterfront) 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9)

(3/4) Steve London (Park Langley) beat Ted Jeal (Bexley) 3-1 (11-5, 11-3, 7-11, 11-9)

(2) Neil Baker (Rodmersham) beat James McMeckan (Canterbury) 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-9)

Semi Finals

(1) Ben Ford (Bexley) beat (3/4) Issa Kamara (Tunbridge Wells) 3-2 (9-11, 11-2, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6)

(3/4) Steve London (Park Langley) beat (2) Neil Baker (Rodmersham) 3-1 (6-11, 11-9, 11-1, 11-6)

Final

(1) Ben Ford (Bexley) beat (3/4) Steve London (Park Langley) 3-2 (12-10, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9)

Plate

Round One

Paul Newvell (Mote) beat Ryan Duke (Mote) 3-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-6)

Elliot Knight (Bexley) beat Simon Humphrey (Mote) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-7)

Graham Cutting (Canterbury) beat Paul Jenner (Mote) 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11)

Quarter Final

Elliot Knight (Bexley) beat Richard Byrom (Mote) 3-0 (11-8, 11-2, 11-8)

Paul Adam (Mote) beat Joel Durston (Kent Uni) 3-0 (14-12, 11-7, 11-3)

Adrian Humphries (Mote) beat Graham Cutting (Canterbury) 3-1 (7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-7)

Josh Masters (Maidstone) beat Paul Newvell (Mote) 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-4)

Semi Finals

Elliot Knight (Bexley) beat Paul Adam (Mote) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-9)

Josh Masters (Maidstone) beat Adrian Humphries 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7)

Final

Elliot Knight (Bexley) beat Josh Masters (Maidstone) 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5)

Women’s Event

Quarter Finals

(3/4) Catherine Ruffle (Beckenham) beat Gina Kennedy (Park Langley) 3-0 (9-4, 9-2, 9-5)

Semi Finals

(1) Stephanie Brind (Bexley) beat (3/4) Catherine Ruffle (Beckenham) 3-0 (9-2, 9-3, 9-1)

(2) Keeley Seamons (Bromley) beat (3/4) Lucy Murphy (Dunnings) 3-0 (9-6, 9-0, 9-0)

3^rd/4^th Playoff

(3/4) Lucy Murphy (Dunnings) beat (3/4) Catherine Ruffle (Beckenham) 3-2 (1-9, 9-3, 9-0, 4-9, 9-7)

Final

(1) Steph Brind (Bexley) beat (2) Keeley Seamons (Bromley) 3-0 (9-7, 9-2, 9-2)