Forster courts county success for second year
Teenager Max defeats his coach to retain North title
NEWCASTLE’S teenage squash prodigy Max Forster saw off all-comers to retain his Northumbria County Championship trophy at Tynemouth SC.
The 17-year-old finished on top of arguably the strongest field the tournament has seen in modern times.
Forster had surprised more than a few people in 2018 by becoming county champion at the tender age of just 16.
Although still slight favourite for the 2019 title, there were four or five in the running with all the region’s top eight seeds going head-to-head.
In the final, Forster’s energetic high-tempo game saw him take a 1-0 lead in a tight opener (11-8) against his coach and a man 20 years his senior in Dave Barnett.
However Barnett is an experienced and wily campaigner - with a stunning record of 13 successive titles under his belt from 2004 to 2016 - and a fierce determination to get back on the winner’s roster.
Barnett was hitting peak form and fitness at just the right time and the 37-year-old had already shown that by seeing off two younger men’s county players in Cai Younger (quarters) and Liam Gutcher (semis) without dropping a game.
Displaying great focus and patience, Barnett eked out an 8-4 lead in the second and looked nailed on to level the match - controlling most of the early rallies with high and wide cross-courts, followed up with killer backhand drops.
Barnett ended up winning this second game - but the manner of so doing proved crucial.
Forster just would not lie down and his tenacious retrieval forced some long, draining exchanges and the tightest of finishes at 14-12. At 1-1, Barnett had arguably played the more controlled squash - but that late comeback from the indefatigable Forster was far from a wasted effort.
His superb consistency and incredible retrievable was sapping his opponent’s energy and Barnett made a few too many errors at full stretch in the final two games, which the 17-year-old won 11-5, 11-7.
Forster said: “I was delighted to retain the title and this has set me up nicely for the rest of the year.
“It is always a difficult tournament to win but I was very pleased with the way I played.
“Beating my coach was very satisfying and there was a bit of friendly banter between us afterwards!”
Forster had booked his place in the final with hard-fought 3-0 victories over Northern duo Michael Mattimore and shot-maker Andrew Shipley.
Such was the level of competition tmen’s county players Paul Lord (retired injured in the quarters) and Chris Wiggins (a PSL player with Newcastle University) did not even make the last four.
In the A Plate final, Newbiggin’s fast-improving Dave Jackson won a pulsating encounter against Tynemouth’s Jon Evans 3-1.
Max’s older brother Angus made it double joy in the Forster household with a hard-fought 3-1 success over Nathan Dobson in the B event final.
Sunderland’s sharp-shooting duo of Peter McLeod and Simon Cliff retained their doubles titles.
As well as the A Plate runner-up trophy, Evans also collected the men’s over-55 and over-60 titles, beating Glenn Ward (3-0) and Ronnie Freeman (3-1) respectively.
FINAL RESULTS:- Men’s A event: Max Forster beat Dave Barnett 11-8, 12-14, 11-5, 11-7.
Ladies: Sam Ward beat Emma Gregson11-5, 11-5, 11-5. B Event: Angus Forster beat Nathan Dobson8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 13-11. C Event: Sam Sweeney beat Lewis Cruz11-7, 11-9, 11-8. D event: Neil Roberts beat Shaun Hood 13-15, 11-5, 9-11, 119, 13-11. E event: Louise Robertson beat Neale Pattinson 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5.
Men’s over-45s: Peter McLeod beat Charlie Ponente 11-9, 11-6, 11-4.
Ladies’ over-40s: Gill Millington beat Louise Robertson 8 - 1 1 , 13-11, 11-8, 11-7.
Men’s over-55s: Jon Evans beat Glenn Ward 11-7, 17-15, 11-5. Men’s over-60s: Jon Evans beat Ronnie Freeman 1 1 - 4 , 1 1 - 6 , 11-13, 11-8 .
Racketball: Simon Long beat John Thompson 11-9, 11-6, 118.
Doubles: Peter McLeod and Simon Cliff beat Chris Garner and Ryan Doran 11-4, 11-8.
A Plate: Dave Jackson beat Jon Evans 6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8. Ladies: Amy Rowell beat Emma Rowell 11-5, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8. B Plate: George Frewing beat Kieran Mahoney 11-8, 11-2, 7-4 rtd. C Plate: Steven Rutherford beat Tim Shield 11/-1, 11-8, 7-11, 14-12. D Plate: Nick Thornton beat John McLean 11-5, 11-9, 11-5. E Plate: Henry Darragh beat Steve Drummond 12/10, 11-13, 11-3, 11-9. Men’s over-45s’plate: John Armstrong beat Steve Brown 11-6, 8-11, 11-3, 11-2. Men’s over-55s’ plate: Tim Shield beat Henry Darragh 11-9, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6. Men’s over-60s’ plate: Mike Cherryman beat Clive Lucas 11-7, 12-10, 11-8.
Racketball plate: John Armstrong beat Dave Todd.