BMS Lead the Way in 2026 Bedfordshire Schools’ Squash Tournament

There was a record entry for the 2026 Schools’ Individual Squash Tournament in Bedfordshire, with 50 entries, and some superb squash on display in all the age categories. BMS dominated the winners podium this year, taking five of the six trophies that were up for grabs.

The results of the finals in each event were as follows:

Summary of Finals Results:

Year 9-11 Girls: Annabel (BMS) bt Charlotte (BMS) 11-4, 11-7

Year 9-11 Boys: Oliver (Samuel Whitbread) bt Matthew (BMS) 11-9, 11-1.

Year 7-8 Girls: Winner Izzy (BMS); Runner-up Etta (BMS)

Year 7-8 Boys: Milan (BMS) bt Theo (Bedford School) 11-6, 11-6

Year 5-6 Girls: Flo (BMS) bt Bea (BMS) 11-3, 11-7

Year 5-6 Boys: Teddy (BMS) bt Ernest (Bedford School) 4-11, 11-6, 11-5

Sincere thanks to all the parents for supporting and helping to mark the matches, and to Bedford School for once again kindly hosting the event and providing the teas. It was a wonderful evening of squash with some brilliant matches and performances.

If you want your child to get involved in squash there are lots of coaching opportunities available across the county in Bedford, Carlton, Flitwick, Biggleswade and Luton. There is also an excellent Squash Academy at Mowsbury Squash and Golf Complex. For more information, please email Sam Morris ([email protected]).   

This is how the evening went…… 

Years 9-11

Only two girls entered the Year 9-11 competition – sisters Charlotte and Annabel – but both being excellent players they wanted to compete with the boys….. so they did. Again, there were four groups, with the top two in each group going through to the quarter finals.

In Group A, Matthew (BMS) justified his top seeding by winning the group, although Alfie (Goldington Academy) made him work hard as he finished in second place. Oliver L (Samuel Whitbread) comfortably won Group B, from Charlotte (BMS), whilst Oliver E (Greenacre) also took Group C with ease, ahead of Annabel (BMS) in second spot. The final group was the tightest. Thomas (Ousedale) was the comfortable winner, but it turned into a real tussle for second spot between Aden (Castle Newnham) and Rohan (BMS), which Aden just edged by a whisker. Sadly, Archie (BMS) fell awkwardly in a highly competitive second match and so could not play his last match. We wish him a speedy recovery.    

Matthew, Oliver L, Oliver E and Thomas proved too strong for Charlotte, Alfie, Aden and Annabel respectively in the quarter-finals. The fitness and resilience of all the players were being tested to the limit at this latter stage of the event

In the first BO-3 semi, Oliver L proved too strong and quick for the younger Thomas, winning 11-2, 11-3. The second semi between Matthew and Oliver E was a real humdinger and probably the match of the night in terms of drama. Oliver E got out of the blocks fast, surprising Matthew with some aggressive driving both straight and cross-court and he took the game 11-9. Matthew managed to impose his own game in the second and took this by the same scoreline. The real drama occurred in the third. It was nip and tuck all the way, before Oliver E managed to pull out a 10-8 lead for 2 match points. But Matthew was not done yet. He saved those, and then Oliver E saved a match point himself, before Matthew prevailed 14-12 – what a match!

In the final, Matthew started brightly, but his exertions in the semi seemed had taken their toll. Oliver L continued to display the fine ball striking and quick movement he had shown all night and ripped through to the end to take the match and the title 11-7, 11-1.

In the girls final, the battle of the twins saw more high-quality squash on display. Annabel took the first game 11-4 and built a 5-2 lead in the second. Charlotte battled back to move 6-5 in front, but a couple of errors halted her momentum at a critical time and Annabel accelerated to the finish line to win 11-4, 11-7. 

Years 7-8

There were four girls in the Year 7-8 event, who played a single round-robin group to determine the winner. There was some impressive squash from all the girls but the dominant performance came from Izzy (BMS) who showed her class by winning all of her matches comfortably. The battle for the runner-up trophy was close, with Etta (BMS) just managing to beat Abbie (BMS) 11-9, 11-9 to take second spot. 

A bigger entry for the Year 7-8 boys competition saw four groups, with the top two in each group going through to the quarter finals. The first three groups all had a clear winner, who won all of their matches: Milan (BMS) took Group A, Ben (BMS) took Group B, and Jessie (Lincroft) took Group C. Group D was tighter, with Theo (Bedford School) edging out Orin (Castle Newnham) by two points to take the top spot.

In the quarter-finals, Milan and Theo advanced comfortably against George and Aayush respectively, but the other two matches were very close. Jesse managed to edge out Orin in a 11-10 thriller decided by a sudden death point, whilst Dominic (Bedford School) kept his cool at the end to beat Ben (BMS) 11-9. In the first semi, Theo showed greater consistency with a convincing 9-3, 9-3 win against Dominic . The second semi between Milan and Jesse had the makings of a very close match, with both players now quite experienced in match play. The first game was close and proved pivotal, with Milan taking it 9-7, before running away with the second game 9-3. In the final, Theo battled bravely, never gave up and showed plenty of skill but ultimately Milan was just too strong and took the title 11-6, 11-6.

Years 5-6

Many of the players in the youngest age group had been playing for less than 12 months, so the quality of the rallies was especially impressive.

In the girls event, there were two groups, followed by semi-finals and final. In group A, Flo showed her match experience by winning her matches comfortably, with Honor securing the runner-up position. Group B was much tighter, with Bea edging out Jess by a single point to take the top spot.

In the first “best-of-three” (BO-3) semi, Jess battled hard in the second game but Flo was just too accurate on the day and won 11-1, 11-7. The second semi was tighter, with Bea edging Honor in a close first game 11-8, before closing out the match 11-6 in the second. The final saw Flo (BMS) take the title in impressive style 11-3, 11-7, but Bea (BMS) played very well considering she took the sport up only a few months back. A great win from Flo and an impressive performance considering she is still in year 5.

The boys were again split into two groups, and it proved to be a very competitive competition all the way through. In Group A, no-one won all their matches, which resulted in a very close finish. Ernest (Bedford School) took the top spot with 64 points, with Teddy (BMS) edging out Frank (Home Schooled) by a single point to make the semis. Vivaan (BMS) ran away with Group B, winning all his matches comfortably, with Aashrith (BMS) taking second spot.

The first BO-3 semi to 9 points saw Vivaan play Teddy and what a match it was. Vivaan was down 1-0 and 8-2 in the second but came all the way back to take the second 10-8 and force a decider. Teddy held his nerve to take this 9-4 and reach the final. The second semi saw Ernest a comfortable winner 9-5, 9-4. The final was also a great match and was a repeat of their group match but this time BO-3 to 11. Ernest took the first 11-4, but Teddy kept running everything down and his impressive retrieval and fitness saw him eventually wear his opponent down to take the last two games 11-6, 11-5 and the title.

A great evening of exceptional junior squash and we are already looking forward to next year!