Hurricanes blow by Scorchers in squash final

The Grand Final for Baw Baw Squash Club’s summer season was held last Thursday

The two teams to play off finished first and second in the competition and were separated by only one point at the end of the season. The contest was expected to be close and so it turned out to be.

Hurricanes’ Jude Braaksma took on Catherine Wallace of the Scorchers in the opening match.

Jude is the club’s youngest player in his first season and has progressed very well over the tournament. Despite being graded similarly at the beginning of the competition,

Jude proved too strong for Catherine, winning 15-7, 15-5, 15-10. Although Catherine served well and made good placement with her shots, Jude proved too quick and many times he managed to turn defence into attack with great retrieval.

For the great start he gave to his team, in both the preliminary final and the Grand Final he was presented with the Player of the Finals award.

Next, Russell Jackson took on Brooke Fitzgerald in what turned out to be a close tussle. Russell produced his high, slow serves and deft lobs which put Brooke under pressure.

However, her better placed shots and more economical movement around the court gave her a slight advantage and enabled her to take out the match 15-10, 15-13, 15-13.

Half way through the night the teams were tied up with three sets each.

In the crucial third match, the much improved Michael Bellingham came up against the hardhitting Terry Milsome.

The first game was an energy-sapping affair with long rallies and great court coverage by both players. In the end it came down to 14-all with receiver, Terry, making the risky “short” call.

It turned out to be the right call as he won the next point and the game 15-14.

The remaining games were all close with Michael eventually prevailing.

His lightning reflexes and great ability to counter Terry’s power using a steady racquet to produce accurate drop shots placed Terry under pressure.

This, combined with his clever manoeuvring of his opponent, created several winning opportunities.

Unfortunately for Terry, as the match wore on, he began to make a number of unforced errors which contributed to his downfall. Again, both players were in the match right to the end with Michael winning the last three games 15-12, 1511, 15-12.

Michael’s win for the Scorchers and a points advantage to the Hurricanes meant that Allan Schack had to get two games off the tournament’s top player, undefeated Damon Healy, in order for the Scorchers to claim the premiership.

He made a nervous start, but Damon was uncompromising and fiercely determined to ensure that Allan didn’t get a look-in. With an extraordinary array of quality strokes and brilliant positioning on the court he ran Allan ragged which has been a rare occurrence in recent seasons.

After going down 6-15, 4-15 in the first two games Allan finally settled and was able to put pressure on Damon in the third, but, by then, the horse had bolted.

In the end, Damon took that game 15-10, thereby delivering the title to his team. For this effort when under pressure he was awarded Player of the Grand Final.

There are two other individual awards for the season. James Cullen was declared the Most Consistent player, and Jeff Lyon was awarded the Most Improved player.

The autumn competition begins on February 27.

Grading night is on February 20 and interested players should attend or notify Dave on 0408 577 398 if unable to do so.