Basingstoke Squash Club: News

Basignstoke v Hart

Hart brought the team that we narrowly beat 3-2 last time and we had two key players unavailable so it was going to be a hard match!

Igor, Warren and Grant found the going very tough against some quality opposition. All went down 0-3 and it looked like being an early Nandos. More improvements by Grant though and a first taste of team squash and some points for Igor. Warren played some quality shots against a very strong number 3.

Mark faced the same player that he had beaten 3-2 in an epic last time but decided on less drama this time, winning 3-0 with some accurate squash.

By this point Rew was still at 1-1 and a grand match unfolded. Playing to a full balcony, Rew went 2-1 up but couldn't close it out in the 4th. In the fifth he battled hard but ended up at 4-8 down. Facing down that match point and 3 or 4 more he dug in and took one of his most memorable victories 10-9.

(Match report written by Mark Palser)

Regards ... a very stiff Rew

Mark v Chris Halyey: 9-3 9-4 9-4 3-0

Rew v Kerry Jalhan: 9-1 4-9 9-5 3-9 10-9 3-2

Warren v Rich Creber: 0-9 0-9 3-9 0-3

Grant v Warren Vye: 2-9 4-9 1-9 0-3

Igor v Dave Wroe: 3-9 0-9 0-9 0-3

Civil Service 1 v Basingstoke

All,

We had a real interesting game at the start of the season vs Civil Service 1. Yakeen made his debut and unfortuately drew a bit of a ringer at No5. His opponent was playing his first game for the club and was obviously a bit tasty. However Yakeen showed enough to demonstrate that this won't be his only team game. Grant dug in well at No 4 against a clever old fox but didn't quite manage to steal a game. Probably comes from being a bit shagged out. Rew played well at the lofty heights of 3 but after winning the first game easily couldn't quite manage to beat his opponent into submssion. Mark and I both played pretty well to win our games against guys we've played before and having looked back in the Stats, Mark did particularly well as his opponent had beaten both him and Anthony in the past:

Mark Palser Won 3-1 9-3 8-10 9-2 9-1
Andrew Darley Won 3-1 7-9 9-2 9-5 9-5
Rew Dinkele Lost 1-3 9-2 4-9 6-9 7-9
Grant Ward Lost 0-3 2-9 3-9 5-9
Yakeen Prabdial Lost 0-3 4-9 2-9 2-9

Hart vs Basingstoke

We had a most satisfactory end to the season with a win over Hart. It looked a little unlikely early on when we quickly went 2-0 down, but we dug in there to take it to a decider at 2-2 and then Mark Palser showed what he was made of to recover from 2-0 down, saving a couple of match points to win the decider:

Mark Palser Won 3-2 6-9 3-9 9-2 10-8 9-0
Andrew Darley Won 3-0 9-4 9-0 9-2
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-0 9-3 9-8 9-5
Rew Dinkele Lost 0-3 6-9 7-9 0-9
Grant Ward Lost 0-3 6-9 2-9 8-9

Basingstoke v Universirty 1

We had a great game tonight against the University first team. Last home game of the season finished very honourably with us losing narrowly 7 - 14. Anthony and I both played well to win against decent opponents, but undoubtedly the Star on the night was Mark Palser. He played the best player in this league and put up a great show ... at least until 4-4 in the first game. For those who have seen Terminator 2, let me draw a quick analogy. The first 8 points there was nothing in it, The Schwarzenegger terminator giving as good as he was getting against the T1000, but then the super Terminator drove the metal spike through him, destroying his main power cells and leaving him horribly weakened on emergency power with one arm missing and on the brink of death. That was definitely Mark. After a mammoth rally at 4-4 in the first he was completely knackered and even though he still gave his best it was game over and he couldn't get another point. And in this case there was no happy ending ;-) Great theatre for us on the balcony though:

Mark Palser Lost 0-3 4-9 0-9 0-9
Andrew Darley Won 3-0 9-6 9-4 9-7
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-0 9-0 9-5 9-4
Rew Dinkele Lost 1-3 4-9 9-6 3-9 1-9
Grant Ward Lost 0-3 4-9 4-9 0-9

Greenacre v Basingstoke

On the joruney to Greenacre we set ourselves a target of ... wait for it ... 0 point!! However, we amassed a total of 5, loosing the night 4-1 with a good performance all round. Details as follows:

Paul Bennet v Mark Palser: LOST 9-6 9-5 9-4

An agile apponent who had just an edge on mark tonight.

Toby Moth v Anthony Pardoe: WON 5-9 7-9 9-2 8-9

Well, the combined aged of both players is less than mine!! Despite his moth like tendencies Toby was no match for a determined Pardoe. Usual set-two with the marker ... excellent perfomance.

Fiona McClean v Rew: LOST 5-9 9-4 9-4 9-2

Beaten by a girl again, better performance this time though.

Jeremy Burch v Richard Gurdler: LOST 9-4 9-3 9-4

This man made Richard run and run until he almost dropped. Good effort but no cigar (and no cash!).

Jon Ferandez v Grant Ward: LOST 9-3 8-9 9-4 9-5

Grant continue to improve as he becomes more familiar with team squash. Excellent effort getting a game.

Basingstoke v LA Fitness

Well a couple of weeks ago i thought i was trapped in a living nightmare. This week was worse ! First we got completely stuffed. Although I got four times as many points than Mark P did against David ;-) and then to compound our misery Warren in his first game for the team went over on his ankle so badly that we were all worried that he had broken it. As i write now he is sat in A&E waiting for his X-Ray. So it would be fair to say the only way is up from here ....

Andrew Darley Lost 0-3 9-10 4-9 6-9
Anthony Pardoe Lost 0-3 4-9 2-9 5-9
Rew Dinkele Lost 0-3 2-9 1-9 2-9
Warren Trask Lost 0-3 4-6 Retired Hurt
Grant Ward Lost 0-3 1-9 0-9 1-9

Basignstoke v Camerley Arena

A much better night tonight. We stuffed Camberley Arena 20 points to 2. To be honest they weren't up to much. The only one that was close was Rew's and he gave a vintage 'Tim Henmanesque' performance. Edge of the seat stuff with plenty of drama and nail biting which carried on for five sets before he closed it out. Warren turned up for his first match for the team but was robbed as they turned up a man short, but i'm sure he'll get plenty more opportunities in the next few weeks:

Mark Palser Won 3-0 9-2 9-2 9-2
Andrew Darley Won 3-0 10-8 9-1 9-3
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-0 9-5 9-3 9-0
Rew Dinkele Won 3-2 6-9 9-3 9-8 9-10 9-4
Warren Trask Walkover

Basingstoke v Bounty

Have you ever thought you were stuck inside a movie, or been convinced that you must be dreaming even though you are awake ? That is what tonight was like. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The first problem was that Bounty turned up with pretty much their first team instead of the second team we were expecting. Granted their first team weren't playing tonight, but that still shouldn't happen. To put it in perspective the guy I played tonight was playing No 1 for their first team when we played them back in 2005. Hmmm - smell of rat. Next everyone seemed to be extremely grumpy. Both us and them. I argued with my opponent during the game, Mark Godley was heckled so much during his umpiring that he left, Mark P and Steve had a row in the restaurant. Maybe it was a bad dream after all. Ow. Pinched myself - nothing happened ;-) And to top it all we lost - although we still put up a good performance against what was a totally changed and improved team since last time we played them:

Mark Palser Lost 0-3 6-9 7-9 8-9
Andrew Darley Won 3-2 9-5 8-10 9-7 0-9 9-7
Mark Godley Lost 1-3 5-9 1-9 9-4 2-9
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-1 9-6 9-3 7-9 9-5
Steve Grimwood Lost 1-3 10-8 1-9 2-9 9-10

Basingstoke v Hart

We had a great night tonight against Hart. We won 5-0 in games and 20-2 on points. It was a thoroughly professional showing. Everyone played well and it was far closer than the score suggests. So great stuff all round. If i had to pick one performance as the best of the night, I would pick Mark Palser. His opponent was strong. Very fit and skillful, so Mark did very well to wear him down and show him who was boss:

Mark Palser Won 3-1 9-2 5-9 9-5 9-1
Andrew Darley Won 3-0 9-6 9-6 9-2
Mark Godley Won 3-0 9-5 10-8 9-4
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-0 9-8 9-4 9-0
Rew Dinkele Won 3-1 9-7 5-9 9-8 9-2

University v Basingstoke

Tonight was one of the best matches we have ever played as a team. Let me put this in perspective: University have just been promoted to division 1 in the Winter League. They are a very good team. Tonight they had their strongest possible order and we still beat them 15-8. We now have a very strong spine to the team at 2,3 and 4. Its like the Carragher, Gerrard, Torres spine for Liverpool :-) So we should be very proud tonight. Mark Godley is continuing his awesome form. He is smoking hot. The player he played tonight was dangerous and Mark never let him have a sniff. He is going to be difficult to beat at 3 by anyone. I'm also playing better than I have for a while, and Anthony is starting to show the form that took him to number one 18 months ago. And lets not forget Mark Palser and Rew who both played very well tonight, but came across outstanding players in their positions:

Mark Palser Lost 0-3 3-9 5-9 2-9
Andrew Darley Won 3-2 9-4 10-8 5-9 2-9 9-1
Mark Godley Won 3-0 9-1 9-5 9-1
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-1 6-9 9-4 9-6 9-3
Rew Dinkele Lost 1-3 9-4 0-9 0-9 0-9

Junior Coaching With Gary Hales

The Sports Centre in Basingstoke are now running childrens squash courses on
Saturday mornings at the Sports Centre.

Local coach Gary Hales is coaching 7 - 9 years old at 9.20 - 10.00, and 10 -
12 years old at 10.00 - 10.40 on a 6 week course starting on 14th June.

For more information please contact the Sports Centre on 01256 326331 or visit www.sportcentre.org.uk.

Basingstoke SC v Greenacre

There is good news and bad news. The good is that we beat our target of 5 points, but unfortunately the bad is that we lost 6-15. All the games were very one sided, three of which they won and only two for us. At 1 and 2 and 5 they were very very strong - Mark, Rew and I getting roundly thumped. The star on the night was Mark Godley who played excellently throughout to murder a very capable opponent. Anthony also saw off his opponent without much trouble, but to be honest he rarely had to get out of second gear. Oh and a last point - Rew asked that I didn't mention that he got beaten by a girl, so i won't say anything about that ....

Mark Palser Lost 0-3 6-9 2-9 1-9
Andrew Darley Lost 0-3 3-9 2-9 5-9
Mark Godley Won 3-0 9-3 9-1 9-0
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-1 9-2 5-9 9-0 9-4
Rew Dinkele Lost 0-3 2-9 6-9 2-9

LA Fitness v Basigstoke SC

We had a fascinating match against LA Fitness. They are a very good team, one of the best the we have played for a long time. The score was 14-8 to them, but we were one point away from the result being the other way around. Mark Godley played a fabulous match and had a Match point, but his opponent had an absolute purple patch and managed to take it away from him. The rally at Match point lasted about 2 minutes and was one of the best i've seen. So although we lost, lots to be proud of. LA Fitness are unbeaten in this league so we should have some other teams we can beat in the next few weeks:

Mark Palser Lost 0-3 5-9 0-9 0-9
Andrew Darley Won 3-0 9-3 9-5 10-8
Mark Godley Lost 2-3 10-9 0-9 9-3 8-10 6-9
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-0 9-4 9-4 9-6
Rew Dinkele Lost 0-3 4-9 1-9 0-9

Author,

Andrew Darley

Camberly v Basingstoke SC

Two wins out of two - how good does that feel. So we battled hard tonight for a 3-2 and 16-8 victory. The big news was the return to form of Rew Dinkele who put recent poor results behind him with a totally convincing 3-0 win. Mark Godley and Andrew Darley also won 3-1 giving us the welcome victory. Steve Grimwood is improving with each game, but will have to step up a level to get to the consistency required in this league. Mark Palser or Sonic as I propose we should now call him (not short for SuperSonic, but named after the Hedgehog because of the new hairstyle ) gave his all and had a match point but just couldn't close it out:

Mark Palser Lost 2-3 4-9 9-3 9-7 8-10 4-9
Andrew Darley Won 3-1 9-5 9-4 6-9 9-0
Mark Godley Won 3-1 9-1 9-6 7-9 9-4
Rew Dinkele Won 3-0 9-4 9-3 9-6
Steve Grimwood Lost 0-3 6-9 4-9 3-9

Author,

Andrew Darley

Bounty v Basingstoke SC

I'm very pleased to report that the Battle of Basingstoke was resoundingly won by the Sports Centre. We came away with a 17 - 3 win which was an even more crushing victory than the scoreline suggests. We are hot :-) So this is a great start to the Summer League. We should be right up there amongst the promotion contenders.

Mark Palser Won 3-0 9-7 9-4 9-4
Andrew Darley Won 3-0 9-2 9-2 9-5
Mark Godley Won 3-0 9-1 9-6 9-0
Anthony Pardoe Won 3-0 9-3 9-6 9-1
Rew Dinkele Lost 0-3 6-9 8-10 0-9

Author,

Andrew Darley

Squash Training

Another great turn out to our Monday night training! In fact there were so many players combined with a shortage of 1 court from 7:00 until 8:20 that we were a little crowded! Unfortunately the Sports Centre will not allow us to book courts as a club in advance which means it is a logistical challenge and a bit of a lottery in getting the courts however it is certainly possible to achieve this with some prompt 9am booking by 9 Sports Centre members. In future if it should be the case that we do not manage to get all 3 courts it may be necessary for us to limit the number of attendees and should this be the case we will announce it to allow players to RSVP. Some good news is that due to current popular demand for Monday night training we are now going to increase the frequency to once a fortnight.

Squash Training

Today was our first Monday training session and what a resounding success it was! There was an excellent number of us who made it and it was smiles all round through out the training session!

Personally I thought it was great to be practice excercises such as straight drive, boast drive, volley boast & drop etc.etc. Evidentally in the weeks/months that we have not trained I have become somewhat rusty so I hope that numbers can be maintained and the training continue!

The plan moving forward is to have our next training session in 3 weeks on Monday 28th of April, a week early because of the bank holiday. It's in the events calendar on the website and reminder emails will be sent nearer the time. If the number of attendees is still high and there is the demand for the training sessions we will re-assess the frequency of training nights and may look to increase from monthly to fortnightly.

Thanks to our coach John Lenton for an excellent training session which was enjoyed by all and also to everyone who made it this evening!

Grant

Basingstoke v Datchet

It was tough night for our team players this evening and unfortunately dispite an excellent effort all round, some good performances with moments of brilliance Datchet were the better team today beating us 12-4. Scores as follows;

Mark Palser v Jay Morris 0-9 4-9 1-9

Mark Godley v Karl Plunket 9-5 9-6 9-2

Rew Dinkele v Ian Cullingham 6-9 7-9 9-4 3-9

Richard Gurdler v Paul Deschamps 6-9 4-9 2-9

Steve Grimwood v Andy Shoesmith 3-9 0-9 2-9

For those who were unable to make it this evening to see the game the scores do not speak for themselves....

Mark Palser played an outstanding opponent and played very well but was a little unlucky and slightly out classed on the night.

Mark Godley, what a result! A great game and bloody good victory over plonker Plunker who after being run ragged lost his cool and spat his dummy out. His gamesmanship was no match for Mark but was very entertaining to watch.

Rew was unlucky not to go 2 all, perhaps the end result may have been different!

Richard demonstrated an admirable level of fitness but was out played on the night.

Steve's opponent although not the most athletic looking fella played a very tight game keeping Steve under pressure and on the back foot.

Good effort guys and thanks to everyone who came to support!

Grant

Windsor v Basignstoke SC

We had a great result tonight away at Windsor. They are a strong team, but we played excellently at the top of the Order and came away with a 14-8 victory. This should now assure us of a place above University, which is a smashing position in a league this hard:

Mark Palser                    Won 3-1               9-1 7-9 9-7 9-5
Andrew Darley                 Won 3-1              7-9 9-4 9-2 9-6
Mark Godley     Won 3-0               9-6 9-3 9-1
Richard Gurdler Void - stuck in traffic
Steve Grimwood               Lost 0-3       5-9 1-9 3-9

One additional stat for you - Mark Palser somehow contrived to loose 14 consecutive points and still come away with a 3- 1 victory!

New Players Wanted!!!

Are You Interested In Playing Squash?

The club caters for all abilities and provides a wide range of activities at a substantially lower cost than other clubs—the annual subscription is just £24.00.

Mini leagues run throughout the year. Promotion and relegation keeps things interesting and provides competition against a new group of players every 6 weeks.
There are handicap team tournaments each year with prizes. These are always played in a friendly but competitive spirit and involve players of all standards.
The club runs men’s and ladies representative teams in Hampshire and Berkshire leagues.
Sunday night 5—7 pm is club night with practices and games for players of all levels and is organised by our squash coach.

The Sports Centre provides good quality squash facilities and offers a wide range of other activities for the family whilst you play squash.

We are certain you will find a level of squash to suit you and that you will enjoy the friendly atmosphere of the club.

Application forms are available from Reception or the Squash Club notice board outside the Squash Courts.