Double success for Stuart in squash championships
Unst saw the conclusion of the Bulter & Mulhern boys’ under-15 and under-13 squash championships at the weekend with Stuart Copland’s powerful shots winning him both titles.
After a gruelling qualifying process the final stage was the super sixes which saw top seeds Stuart, Josie Wishart and Cameron Garrick take on Ryan Kirk, Craig Smith and Andrew Bain for three places from the Lerwick region.
Non-seeded players required one win to knock out the top seeds. Craig and Andrew tried hard to cause some upsets with good tactical squash but were unable to match their opponents’ variety of shots. Both Stuart and Josie were in determined form with no games dropped as they played too strongly for the rest, qualifying as seeds one and two.
That left a crunch match between Cameron and Ryan and after some enduring squash Ryan managed to edge ahead, winning the second game clear of two.
A scaled back under-15 competition saw Stuart Ferguson and Cameron Garrick compete in a six-way round robin with the top four under-13s (Stuart Copland, Josie, Ryan and Mark Ferguson). The highest finishing player would win the under-15s and the highest of the top four under-13s would win the under-13 title.
Mark took on Stuart first and the power of his opponent saw Mark struggle although some good drop shots delayed Stuart’s win.
Ryan and Josie played next with some fantastic serving from Josie winning him the first game. Ryan fought back in game two but a final flourish by Josie managed to clinch the match.
Cameron’s persistent returning and hard running was a shock to Stuart Ferguson as Cameron took a streak of seven to win game one. Stuart hit back in the second with some powerful forehands to bring it to a deciding game.
Both players gave their all neck and neck to 11-all but Stuart just had the edge as he took the last two. Cameron kept the intensity going in the next match, almost causing an upset, but Stuart recovered well to win.
Another game going all the way was Ryan against Mark with Mark coming out on top after some hard play. Unfortunately Cameron retired after this match with an injury. Stuart Ferguson v Ryan saw a marathon finish end at 36-34.
Josie was unable to deal with Stuart Ferguson’s heavy forehands in their match which left Josie and Stuart Copland to play off for the final of the under-13s. Josie won the first game and it was neck and neck all the way in the second until Stuart managed to turn it around to win the next two games and take the title.
The final of the under-15s saw Stuart Copland take on Stuart Ferguson and the former’s formidable hitting proved vital as he lifted his second title.
