Ade Warren and Rich Holdway make Wiltshire Men’s Semi-Finals!
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 | The Club, Tournaments, Wiltshire championships
Trowbridge Squash Club’s very own Ade Warren and Rich Holdway had a great weekend at the 2009 Wiltshire Open Championships.
Ade making the semi-finals of the main competition and Rich the semi-finals of the plate competition (for losers in the 1st round of the main competition).
Also representing Trowbridge Squash Club was Mark McGuiness who had a challenging draw (to say the least!) against last year’s (and this year’s) main competition finalist Paul Clarke. Mark worked hard to stay on court for as long as possible, and managed to get 7, 5 and 3 points in 3 games respectively - a respectable effort!
Mark then lost fairly easily to Dean Watkins who was intent on claiming every stroke going rather than do any running! Mark’s game was too loose and error prone to put up a real fight.
Ade Warren’s route to the semi finals went something like this (individual match scores based on memory, so perhaps not 100% accurate)…
1st round match against Ed Harris, a new member to Marlborough and somewhat of an unknown quantity. I tok the first 2 games reasonably comfortably with Ed making many errors to my advantage. The third game saw Ed stop making the errors and force Ade to win his rallies, the game went to 8-8 with Ed looking strong and Ade looking worried, Ade had 5 match points, each of which saw him put the ball into the tin; finally on the sixth time of asking, Ade was able to close out the match. Ed is one to watch though for the future at Marlborough. Think the scores were 9-3 / 9-2 / 10-8
2nd round saw Ade come up against the prestigious and renowned Mike “The Judge” Stannard. I knew this was not going to be a walk in the park and many people pre-warned me of Mike’s game prior to the start.
The 1st game saw Mike on the back foot, not quite getting into his game and allowing Ade to control the rallies, but then Mike woke up in the second and third, forcing Ade to up his game to keep control. Fortunately some early hard rallies had taken their toll on Mike and by the end of the third game tiredness saw some error’s coming from Mike allowing Ade to close out the match. 9-4 / 9-7 / 9-7.
Quarter Finals - Ade vs James Ryan - a young gun from Moonrakers in Salisbury, previously coached by Simon White and now coached by Tim Vale!!! Rightfully Ade was apprehensive of this match, after watching James see off some good opponents in the first and second round.
the first game saw Ade start a lot quicker than James and was then able to dominate the pace of the rallies early on. In the second Ade continued to show his dominance, taking the ball early and keeping James on the back foot. James was struggling to handle the continued change of pace and finally succome to frustration on the third game my making many unforced errors and handing Ade the match. Another one that will be coming up through the ranks in the future though! No idea of game scores.
Semi finals - After struggling to ensure not too many beers were consumed Saturday night, Sunday morning saw the semi finals arrive.
Knowing full well that I was on court with the defending champion and favourite to win, Ade was nervous to say the least!
Ade was off to a flyer in the first by winning the spin for serve and kicking the match off, the was the first and last time Ade was in the lead throughout the match. The first game saw Ade tried to rush Simon into his shots, taking the ball early and keeping the pace fast throughout. Simon was able to cope with the fast pace better than Ade and took the first 9-3.
The second saw a different tactic from Ade, just trying to stick with Simon’s game, Simon’s unbelievable retrieval started to mystify Ade who was witnessing his best shots being picked up and thrown back at him with interest - idea’s were running out!!!
In the third Ade kept it simple, but Simon’s dominance proving too much for him, Simon closing the match out 9-3 / 9-3 / 9-3.
Rich Holdway’s route to the plate Semi-Final….
1st Round.
I came up a lad named Jason Pike, and from what i was hearing he was very good. They weren’t wrong, and even as we hit back to each other in the warm up it was already obvious! Anyway, there was some good rallies right from the off but it was clear he was a far better player than me and he breezed through the first 2. I managed to give him a scare in the third by going 8-4 up but was unable to get that illusive last point, so Jason took the match 3-0.
Plate 1st Round.
Had drawn Ed Crane, a Wessex player who i know pretty well but have never played. I started really slow in this one, couldn’t find any rhythm and before I knew what was going on I was 2-0 down! The third started badly as well, went 5-1 down in no time, convinced I was going out I must have relaxed slightly and started going for more shots, which started working, I managed to claw that 1 back to take it 9-5. The fourth went the same way and as I grew in confidence Ed was getting more frustrated, and started making a lot of mistakes. I took the forth and the fifth reasonably comfortably, to somehow progress to the next round.
Plate 2nd Round.
Antony Denington was waiting for me here. Again a guy I know well, but have never played but I know he’s good. Thankfully in my favour was the fact that he had just had a pretty hard match with James Ryan, and was looking tired early on. He took the 1st 10-9, but it was a long game, and it soon became apparent in the 2nd that Ant was rapidly running out of steam! I took the 2nd and although the next 2 were close I managed to take those as well. A really good match, from 2 pretty tired body’s!
Plate Quarter Final
This was also played on the Saturday, and to be honest didn’t think I’d get through this as was very tired. I was playing Mike Stannard. From the warm up it was painfully obvious from both of us that this wasn’t going to be a classic! Mike took the first 9-6 I think, but then seemed to rest slightly in the second as I took that one 9-1, the reverse then happened in the third as Mike pushed again and I was unable to respond, Mike taking it 9-3 I believe. This pattern continued as I took the fourth, although during this game it was clear Mike was having problems with his racket hand, and between games he admitted it was cramping up a lot. The fifth started and I managed to take a good lead 7-2 or so, but Mike was having increasing difficulty with hand, and unfortunately had to concede the match.
Sunday Plate Semi Final
After a long jacuzzi, a good meal, a few beers and a sleep you wouldn’t have woke me from even if the hotel had blown up, I felt just about ready for Dave Ridgeway in the semi’s. Dave I know really well and we have played a number of times and although it has always been close- in fact almost always going to 8 all in the fifth- i have never beaten him. Anyway as usual games went back and fourth and it was soon 2 all, with both of us looking tired. I took off in the fifth going 6-1 up and hoping today was going to be mine! Dave dug deep and it was soon 6 a piece, then I was 8-6 down! A few more hard rallies and it went 8 all, Dave called set 2, I got to 9-8, and served for the match, but was unable to take it, 9 all, now Dave has another chance, which he took. Another good knock but he still remains my nemesis, as I went out to him last year as well!! Anyway Dave did go on to win the plate, taking the final 3-0, a worthy winner in my opinion.
Rich Holdway.
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