PLAYERS from across the state travelled to the Bathurst Panthers Masters Squash Tournament in their bid for a title.
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Even with numbers down on previous editions the tournament still produced 10 divisions of squash action.
Bathurst players came up just short of a title on their home courts. The hosts had three runner-up finishes through Andrew Kelly (division one), Dennis Besant (division three) and Barb Murphy (division seven).
Mick Bayley had been a force throughout the competition and proved too good for Kelly in the division one decider.
Bayley won three straight games, 15-7, 15-11, 15-12, to take the title.
Organiser and division one competitor Dave Fuller said there was still plenty of great squash action taking place despite the lower numbers in this year’s tournament.
“Last year we had 102, this year we had 72, but a lot of that was due to the Commonwealth Games being on. They were either up there watching it or volunteering,” he said.
“Some of the regulars made up about 20. It happens sometimes, but we still had a very good weekend.
“We weren’t as strong as we normally would be at the top end but what that meant was that it made the division one competition a lot more even.”
Kelly stepped up to division one after taking out last year’s division two crown.
Besant went down 15-11, 15-3, 15-5 in his final against Chris Bartlett.
Murphy’s final against Jan Grant went the distance. Grant eventually came away a 15-13, 7-15, 11-15, 15-12, 15-12 winner.
Fuller said it was good to see people making the journey to Bathurst for the annual event.
“People came from Wagga, Bega, Wollongong, Newcastle and we had someone from Port Macquarie. There were a lot of people from Sydney and the Central West was well represented,” he said.
“Local numbers were down a little bit this year but it was still great representation across the board.”
In the division two finale Wally Guerreiro prevailed in a five-game thriller over Phill Clark.
The match was the pick of the finals with a 15-10, 11-15, 15-13, 13-15, 15-13 scoreline.
Jim Walton was too good for Barry Werth in the division four decider with a comprehensive 15-11, 15-8, 15-8 win.
Steve Fry went the distance in his division five win over John Chapman. The final score was 16-14, 8-15, 9-15, 15-13, 15-6.
The other division’s finals were won by Shane Gadd (six), Richard Gatty (eight), Michelle Mead (nine) and Sue Smith (10).
