What a fantastic way to celebrate our 150th year anniversary. We had four pro players, featuring Joel Makin (World No. 5), Karim Gawad (World No. 7), Eain Yow Ng (World No. 12) and Jonah Bryant (double European Junior Champion) competing on our courts for a weekend full of world-class squash.
We started on Saturday with our semi-final matches. Karim Gawad vs Eain Yow Ng and Joel Makin vs Jonah Bryant. What a line-up we had in store for us. We had a packed crowd behind the courts and on the balcony and it made the perfect atmosphere for a great night. Gawad beat Yow and Makin beat Bryant with some fantastic referring from our Squash Academy at the balcony. Our Squash Academy even had the chance to perform some post-match interviews with the professionals, gaining insider tips and knowledge to help them improve their game!
Our Sunday was very busy with our 3/4 play off and final matches. But, before we saw any matches, our members had the chance to take part in coaching clinics with the professional players. This was amazing and members had such a good time hitting with the world-class experts! Unfortunately, Yow had to pull out of his 3/4 play off match due to an injury, but George Parker (World No. 45) stepped in his place and had a great match with Bryant. Bryant beat Parker 3:0. Our final match saw Makin and Gawad battle it out, and after a great match, Makin came out on top winning the 150th Invitational Squash Tournament trophy at 3:1. We finished our weekend off with a Q&A session with all the players, trophy ceremony and a delicious roast dinner.
This was an incredible weekend – what a way to celebrate our 150 years of history!