Out with the Old, In with the New – Squash Club Champs Finals 2025

Our 2025 Squash Club Championships concluded with some spectacular matches this week and multiple new champions were crowned. The journey began in March with 51 players split into three main knockout events: A grade, B grade and Ladies competitions. First round losers were then drawn into Plate competitions which culminated with five finals on Wednesday night. All the matches were played with excellent sportsmanship on show, despite some tricky decisions for the markers on the night.

Ladies Final

Eight ladies entered this event, with first round losers drawn into a round-robin Plate competition. The Plate winner was Theresa Wright, who won all her round robin matches in the weeks leading up to finals night. In the main event Sophie Cable played Jolanta Hawryluk. Both ladies are very strong racquets all-rounders. Sophie’s greater experience at squash was perhaps the deciding factor, dominating the T and forcing Jolanta deep into the back corners of the court. Excellent rallies ensued, with Jolanta’s impressive speed and retrieval skills forcing Sophie to step forward to then recover with her trade-mark cross-court lobs . The second game was decisive with Sophie in her stride, but Jolanta was not done yet. At 5-10 down in the third game she fought back with four consecutive clean winners, only for Sophie to close the match out with the next five points herself, winning 15-6 / 15-3 / 15-9.

B Grade Plate Final 

This match was fast and furious with two players in their first Club Towers final and determined to win their first title. As the younger man, Charlie’s game has improved leaps and bounds this year with lightning speed around the court. Josh is no slouch either, so this was bound to be a slugfest of hard hitting. In the first game the points were evenly shared with Josh leading 9-7, before Charlie broke through with 8 of the last 9 points to clinch the game. He then raced to a 7-0 lead in the second game, before Josh hit back with several hard-fought points himself, but Charlie hung on to win the game 15-11. Neither player would dominate in the early phase of third game but somehow Charlie stretched to an 11-6 lead, and then reached match point at 14-11. But Josh refused to give in and dragged the score back to 14-14, only for Charlie to come through to win the match 15-10 /15-11 / 16-14.

B Grade Final

This match was billed as two evenly matched players, despite Jonny Richens 100% record against Alex Buckhurst. Could Alex break through? He certainly has the belief and had Jonny in his sights, starting well as he settled quickly into a 7-3 lead in the first game. Jonny hit back with a run of points but still Alex led at 12-11, only to concede four points in a row. So Jonny won the first game, and in the early stages of the second game piled on more pressure. Alex dug deep to level at 12-all, but in an almost identical pattern to the first, Jonny closed the game out to lead by two games to love. Jonny started quickly in the third to lead 11-5, but Alex hit back again, taking the next four points. Just at the critical moment Alex ran out of steam and once again Jonny closed out the game and the match in emphatic style, winning 15-12 / 15-12 / 15-10.

A Grade Plate Final

Ian Rounce’s game has improved substantially in the last year, reaching division one of the box leagues in recent times. He came through a tough semi-final against Sam Morris but the pick of the semi-finals was Matt Towers versus long-time adversary Ian Thomas earlier in the week. That match ended in a narrow win for Matt (11-9 in the 5^th), so the question on finals night was ‘does Matt have the legs to come through another 5 set match so soon after the semi-final?’ It seemed the answer was YES! …. with the first two games going to Matt in an even contest of fitness and impressive court coverage.  However, the tide began to turn in the third game with Matt’s intensity dropping slightly and Ian took full advantage to take the game 11-6.  Somehow both players injected even greater concentration and intensity in the latter stages of the match, determined not to concede points with errors. Ian levelled the match by taking the fourth 11-8 and then in the fifth he took an early 4-0 advantage, only for Matt to hit back to lead 8-6. But Ian was not to be denied! He ran through the next 4 points to reach match point, and eventually clinched the title 11-9.

A Grade Final

And so to the main event – the A Grade final between Steve Davies (five times Club champion and seven times County champion) and Ben Mann (young pretender with lightning quick speed and agility). It was a shame that last year’s champion – Steve Evans – was injured and not able to defend his title, but this match was no less mouth-watering a contest. Earlier in the week Ben had vividly demonstrated his form and desire with a dominant semi-final win against Will Montgomery.

This was always going to be tight match between two players with similar attributes, seemingly covering the court with ease and range of shots. The first game was fast and furious and saw an even exchange of points to 5-5, before Ben clicked up a gear to lead 9-5. Despite Steve taking the next three points Ben closed out the first game 11-8. The second game somehow saw a further acceleration of the pace as Steve established a crucial lead at 7-3, taking the game 11-7. There was no telling who would claim the third game, when at 6-6, Ben broke through to take the game 11-7. The rallies grew ever longer and the seesaw continued with Steve clinching the fourth 11-8. Two games all, with identical points tallies and on to a deciding 5^th and final game. Neither player relented as they reached the decisive phase of the match at 7 points each. Ben took the next three points to reach match point, but still Steve would not give way, levelling the match at 10 points each. Breathtaking stuff! Somehow Ben hammered the next two rallies and came through to win the match 11-8 / 7-11 / 11-7 / 8-11 / 12-10. An 80-minute contest that ended to rousing applause from the watching crowd.

Results Summary

A Grade – Ben Mann beat Steve Davies 11-8 / 7-11 / 11-7 / 8-11 / 12-10
A Grade Plate – Ian Rounce beat Matt Towers 8-11 / 10-12 / 11-6 / 11-8 / 11-9
Ladies – Sophie Cable beat Jolanta Hawryluk 15-6 / 15-3 / 15-9
B Grade – Jonny Richens beat Alex Buckhurst 15-12 / 15-12 / 15-10
B Grade Plate – Charlie Jenkins beat Josh Anwar 15-10 /15-11 / 16-14
Ladies Plate – Theresa Wright, winning a round robin group of four

Congratulations to all our 2025 champions and bad luck to the runners up who fought gallantly. Thanks to the spectators watched the finals and semi-finals, and to all those who entered. We look forward to the Doubles tournament on 14th June – open to players in box leagues 1 to 7 – and the Handicap tournament running from mid-August until the final in mid-October. We also look forward to the U18 Junior Championships later this year.