The Hurricanes and Heat clashed in an elimination final of Baw Baw Squash Club's winter competition.

Bruce Bowering and Catherine Wallace got the night underway. Bruce, for Hurricanes, put pressure on Catherine right from the start, with good awareness of his opponent's position that enabled strong drives cross-court and down the line. With Catherine hanging back, he was also able to control the front court to advantage. He took out the first game 15-6.
The second game saw an improvement in Catherine's positioning on the court and anticipation of Bruce's shots. However, momentum remained with him as he won that game 15-8.
The next game saw Catherine take a 7-0 lead with high serves drawing several return errors from her opponent. Curiously, though, it was Bruce's consistently accurate serves, particularly to Catherine's backhand, that was the dominant feature of the match. In the end, it enabled him to draw level and win a much more competitive game 15-13 to give the Hurricanes a one-match lead.Next in action were Ralph Upston and Anthony Walker. In a tight game that saw some clever placement from both players as well as a number of unforced errors, Anthony grabbed a 15-12 head start.
He hit his straps in the second game, with fast movement and strong drives to a good length that Ralph couldn't reach. The 15-6 score brought the Heat strongly back into the final.
The third game was a replica of the first but Ralph started to tire which caught him a bit flat-footed. Nevertheless, the game was close and concluded with a cross-court winner to Anthony, 15-11.
With one match each and Hurricanes holding a two-point lead, the rubber was evenly poised as David Dzur and Brad O'Meara took to the court.
Brad was on his game right from the start with beautiful clean, powerful hitting - both forehand and backhand - that put pressure on his opponent. Dave's favourite tight drop-shots were missing, but good anticipation kept him in the game. It finally went to Brad, 15-11, to give the Heat the lead for the first time.
Dave tightened up and pressured Brad in the second. As well, Brad eased up and eventually found himself in a tie-break. The first point went to Dave. Brad got the next two and game-point, but Dave fought back to draw level again. However, Brad hit a winner off Dave's serve to take the critical game 17-16.
Brad took control again in the third and resumed his strong drives to a good length on both sides of the court. Backhand slices to the front of the court proved to be winners as well. The final outcome was 15-7 to Brad.
Leading by one match and 11 points, Daniel Meyer only had to win one game to get the Heat into the preliminary final. Unfortunately for him, he was up against the competition's best player in Mike Griffith.
The challenge for Mike was to keep Daniel to an average of 11 points per game. Mike's talent was on display in the first game with carefully placed lobs, drives and drop shots accompanied by excellent anticipation and court coverage that eventually led to outright winners. A 15-4 result in the first game was a sign of things to come.
Daniel wasn't cowed, however, and fought back strongly in the second. Quick reflexes and good placement gave him an advantage that drew some uncharacteristic errors from Mike. An upset was on the cards as Daniel gained a three-point lead to provide some consternation in the Hurricanes' camp. Undeterred, Mike settled and finally won that game 15-11.
In the third game, he put an exclamation mark on the match and sent a message to the two possible preliminary final opponents on the next court. In a consummate display of his skills, he didn't give Daniel a serve - a rarity in squash - and took out the match 15-0.
In the qualifying final between Thunder and Renegades, play began prior to the event with the number four players Al McArdle and Jono Davenport in action.
Their two previous encounters were five-set marathons, with one win each. On each occasion, Jono held a two sets to one lead, and so it also was on this occasion.
In a further comparison with their most recent encounter, the final game came down to a tie-break which Al won 17-14 to give the Thunder a good head start.
Previous games were, for Al, 15-4, 11-15, 12-15, 15-8. These closely matched players both like front court boasts and strong drives down the wall, but Jono takes an unorthodox run to the ball and Al is prone to unforced errors. This results in a good spectacle for the gallery.
The next match saw Romy Mondschein and Karl Ross meet. Previous encounters this season have been close but Karl won both, one in four sets and one in five. They, again, had a five set tussle.
Karl quickly got into his game of powerful strokes to a good depth and quick movement around the court. Romy's returns from the back of the court were then put away well by Karl. He won the first game, 15-9.
Romy came back with better placement in the second set, which she took out 15-13. The next two games went the same way as the first two, with Karl winning the third 15-11 and Romy the fourth 15-8.
Momentum was in Romy's favour due to her energetic court coverage with tight drop shots, whilst unforced errors were creeping into Karl's game.
However, with the benefit of playing two nights a week, Karl's game has improved significantly. He has largely eradicated unproductive shots and has added others that lead to advantage. These he displayed in the final game, with a number of defensive lobs over Romy's head to an unreturnable perfect length. With a better constructed final game, he levelled the rubber, 15-6, for the Renegades.
With a four-point advantage to the Hurricanes, Peter Young was hoping to overcome the higher-ranked Tom Ciz who has had an excellent season.
Despite Peter playing his best game in a long time, it was not to be. He plays excellent drop shots from all parts of the court as well as cross-court drives low above the tin that win many points. Tom, though, covers the court speedily, hits the ball cleanly and always places it to advantage. If his opponent's shot is not a winner, it results in an advantage to Tom.
Despite Peter's valiant efforts, Tom proved more consistent and dominated the final game to win the match 15-10, 15-12, 15-5.
The state of play going into the final match of the night was Renegades 2-8-167 to Hurricanes 1-5-153. Scott McArdle, for the Hurricanes, had to win in straight sets and keep Steve Mooney to an average of 10 points per game, or Steve had to win a game, essentially. Scott is ranked above Steve and was expected to win, but preventing Steve from taking a game is no easy task.
As noted in previous competitions, Scott has little margin for error in his shots. He likes to hit low, hard and deep, then follow up with fast access to the reply. However, he hit the tin a few times to give Steve some easy points.
On the other hand, Steve is also prone to such miscalculation, but his game is more versatile than Scott's. Steve hardly put a foot wrong, with well-placed shots of varied power that caught Scott out of position and unable to retrieve them, his court speed notwithstanding.
Nonetheless, despite Steve winning the first game 15-13 to put the Renegades through to the grand final, the match was a fine, hard-fought and close affair. Steve eventually won the remaining games 15-13, 9-15, 15-14.