by Bruce Bowering

Baw Baw Squash Club's summer competition grand final was played last Thursday between the Sixers and the Heat. In the end, the Sixers, who finished the season in fourth place, triumphed.

The evening began with old stagers Steve Andrews and Bruce Bowering, who were both undefeated during the season, involved in a protracted contest.
Bruce was all at sea in the first game and Steve raced to a 12/2 lead as Bruce mishit or completely missed several shots. Ultimately, Steve had an early first game win 15/5.
Bruce composed himself during the game break and the match became the close competition that the crowd expected.
Steve's clean strokes that moved his opponent around were matched by Bruce's ability to hit the ball out of Steve's reach. In the end, Steve just edged Bruce with a 15/13 win.
Maximum pressure was on Bruce who, though, is a five-game specialist.
He responded with a more thoughtful and disciplined approach to his stroke-making and was able to reverse the disadvantage he suffered in the previous game with a 15/13 win.
This gave him more confidence and, with fewer errors, took control in the fourth to win 15/9.
Steve wrested back the initiative to take a three-nil lead in the final set and read Bruce's movement well to maintain this slight advantage.
Bruce had an opportunity at 12/13 to level the scores but his serve was out by just a couple of centimetres which led to match point for Steve. A loose return from Bruce enabled an easy put-away for Steve to take the match 15/12.
With a one rubber lead the Sixers had a significant advantage as Bruce was graded to win his match.
The pressure was on Clio Milsome to repeat her preliminary final heroics that enabled the Heat to reach the grand final.
She began very confidently against Al McArdle with deliberate placement and mixture of pace. Al's ability to get to most of Clio's shots kept him in the game, but Clio maintained control and took the first game 15/11.
Then, it was complete domination in the second as Al was rattled by her ability to read his play. An authoritative 15/4 victory to Clio through high quality squash suggested that a comfortable three-nil victory was on the cards, but Al had other ideas.
He appeared more composed after the break and managed the fourth game to advantage by focusing on depth and control rather than his favoured power.
This resulted in a 15/6 win and the match was now in the balance. Even more so after the fourth game which Al won 15/13.
As was reported last week, Clio is a fighter. In the vital fifth game Clio took an early lead but the resurgent Al kept coming back with his more settled game.
Fortunately for the Heat, Clio's shots tight down the wall and quick reactions just prevailed over Al's pervasive court coverage to enable a 15/12 win in what was a highly entertaining match.
In a strange quirk of fate, for two successive finals the scores were exactly tied after the first two matches - two rubbers, five games and 124 points each. The final had boiled down to a two-rubber shootout. The third match saw Y.D. Singh, who has returned from a long lay-off due to injury, compete against the ever-improving Tom Ciz. Unlike the earlier two matches Tom never really looked like challenging Y.D.
Y.D. had a power advantage as a left-hander with a strong wrist. His low, hard shots on the forehand or backhand always were to a good length, placing Tom on the back foot.
Tom's returns, unfortunately, were not tight enough to apply pressure on Y.D., who also fiercely hit short boasts to keep Tom scrambling. This was the pattern for much of the match.
Y.D. clearly won the first two games 15/8, 15/7. Tom rallied in the third as Y.D. started to make some errors, but his game proved too strong and a 15/12 win in the third gave the Sixers a commanding lead.
The final match required the Heat's Daniel Meyer to win without conceding a game and keeping his opponent to less than 27 points.
That opponent was Brendan "Spud" North, a former high number one who has returned after a six-year break.
Disappointingly for Daniel, Brendan has rapidly found his groove and is playing top squash again. His efficient movement around the court, quick reactions, reading of the game and effective stroke-play applied pressure to Daniel right from the start.
Daniel is a great retriever of the ball which created many absorbing rallies and the first game was evenly poised, but Brendan just shaded him to win 15/13. The championship was then all over.
Nevertheless, the match continued in an interesting fashion with the contrasting styles of the two players. In the end, Brendan prevailed after losing the third game. Final results were 15/13, 15/11, 13/15, 15/8 to Brendan. Sixers became deserving premiers with an overall result of 3/11/227 to 1/6/199.
In other presentations on the night Mike Griffith won the Most Consistent award for the fifth time. Ralph Upston won the Most Improved award after moving up five places in the rankings.
Clio Milsome won the Player of the Finals award for her two epic five-set wins that enabled the Heat to reach the grand final and to keep their hopes alive in that match.
Y.D. Singh was awarded the Player of the Grand Final for his dominant win. Tom Ciz received the trophy for winning the Tuesday night handicap tournament.
Grading night will be held this Thursday for players in the winter competition. All should attend along with any others who may wish to become involved. Ring or text Dave on 0408 577 398 if you wish to play but are unable to attend.