Nairn Christmas Squash Competition

This year’s annual Christmas squash competition at Nairn Sports Club on the 27th December was bigger than ever, attracting a field of 20; around half of whom were children. Junior squash coaching at the Club continues to grow attracting a wide base of participation and not solely those being introduced to the sport by their parents. The range of abilities wasn’t a problem as a handful of qualifying rounds neatly tweaked the seeding into two ‘Monrad’ groups of 8 (Cup and Plate) and the remaining 4 into a round-robin.

Coming out on top in the round-robin, and finishing well above his ranking, was Ross Donachie. The plate competition was closely fought with many of the matches going to third and deciding games. The final was a best of five thriller that saw Steve Jack pitted against his ever improving son Harry. Make no mistake, Steve wasn’t holding back, and was looking good going into the fourth at 2-1 up. However, Harry had other ideas as his agility and hunger brought him right back into it winning the fourth 11-9. Harry showed no signs of nerves as he tightened the screw further in the fifth; going on to take it 11-7. This attracted the biggest cheers of the day, not only from the packed balcony but from a very supportive and proud father.

The cup competition final saw last year’s winner Garry McKay take on Nairn’s top junior Harry Barron. The crowd marvelled at the improvement in Harry’s game over the last year and longed to witness something extra special as he took the first game 11-9. Alas, Garry’s superior class was always going to see him through as he floated the ball majestically around the court before finishing of the openings with blistering dying lengths or graceful drops; taking the match 3-1.