Rhiwbina Club Number 1 plays vital part in GB Clinching Gold in World University Team Championships Great Britain reclaimed the team title in the 7th World University Squash
Championships in Australia – but the favourites were taken the full distance by
final newcomers Hong Kong at Monash University in Melbourne.
The second seeds claimed the early advantage when, in a rematch of the
women’s individual final, the highly-fancied Annie Au defeated GB’s Emma Chorley
again in straight games. Au, a student at Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, is ranked 16 in the world and the highest-ranked player in the
event. The 21-year-old despatched Chorley, a 22-year-old from Bridgwater College
in Somerset ranked almost 150 places lower, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 to raise Hong
Kong’s hopes for the title.
It was the men’s individual champion Joel Hinds who levelled the tie for
Great Britain. The 23-year-old Birmingham University graduate, fought back from
2/1 down to beat Annie Au’s younger brother Leo Au 11-7, 10-12, 5-11, 11-5,
11-6. “It was a spectacular five set match in which Leo Au fended off two match
points before Joel coolly claimed victory,” explained tournament spokesman Sarah
Wordsworth.
In
the dramatic decider, Welshman Peter Creed – from the University of
Wales in Cardiff – sealed victory for Great Britain after beating Hong
Kong’s Chiu Ho Fai 11-5, 11-1, 11-4. The 2/1 win marked Great
Britain’s third title triumph in the event after beating France in the
finals of both the inaugural championship in 1996 and the 2006
championship in Hungary. But it was a notable performance by Hong
Kong in only their third appearance in the championships after their
previous best finish of fifth in 2000.
Squash: Wales out to hit the heights RHIWBINA’S Sam Fenwick is among four Welsh squash players preparing to face
altitude problems virtually TWICE as tough as those being endured by Fabio
Capello’s England.
While captain Steven Gerrard and his team-mates get to grips with their World
Cup soccer challenge at altitudes up to 1,600m, Fenwick and Co are training flat
out for a World Championship challenge at around 3,000m in South America.
Australian former world No 2 Chris Robertson is the Wales team coach for
their World Under-19 Championship campaign in Quito, Ecuador, from July 27 until
August 1.
Newport pair David Haley and Sam Huxtable join Nyall Driscoll (Cardiff SRC)
and Fenwick in the Wales under-19 team and Robertson says: “We are all going
into the unknown – it’s almost impossible to know how our players will cope.
“We have been using altitude tents, but nothing can really prepare us for the
conditions. I played in Johannesburg during my career, but the altitude in
Ecuador is far more.
“Other teams, like Germany, are spending a lot of time and money
acclimatising, but we don’t have the finances to do that. We go out five days
before the start of the tournament. We can’t say how things will go because this
is not simply a squash issue. Altitude affects difference people in different
ways.
“It can make you feel as though the world is on your shoulders – and it can
make things worse if you try to push too hard through that. My concern is that
nobody falls ill because they push too hard. I have to remember these are 17 and
18-year-olds.
“Overall, if we can finish in the top 16 and get near the top 10 we will feel
it was a successful trip. The players involved have been in the Squash Wales
development programme for a long time now and the trip will help them all gain
experience and progress further.
“This group earned the European Championships silver medal for Wales,
although that was a mixed team which included Tesni Evans from North Wales. It
will be tough in Ecuador for purely squash reasons with Egypt, England,
Pakistan, Australia and more presenting a formidable challenge.
“The altitude adds an extra test and we will do everything possible to deal
with that.”
Creed is out to be on top of the World with GB
RHIWBINA Squash Club’s Peter Creed is flying out to Australia next month in
search of World Championship success.
Creed, a student at Cardiff’s University of Wales Institute is in the Great
Britain team for the World University Championships in Melbourne starting on
Saturday, July 10.
Caerphilly-based Creed is the only Welshman in the five-player GB squad, who
fly out a week before the Championships start and spend three days in Kuala
Lumpur en-route.
“We should be seeded at number three, maybe even two, with Egypt and
Australia our main rivals,” said Creed.
Welsh senior champion Creed, aged 23 and a former pupil at St Martins School,
in Caerphilly, is currently ranked 140 in the world.
“I’ve jumped 85 places since last January when I was at 225,” says Creed.
“My next target is to get into the top 100. If I can achieve that by this
time next year I will feel I am making solid progress.”
Creed started playing at Caerphilly SRC when he was 10-years-old, while he
has been playing at Rhiwbina in Cardiff for the last two season.
He moved when team squash ended at Caerphilly Leisure Centre and the local
club switched, almost en-bloc, to Rhiwbina.
Creed went to St Martins School, but was then snapped up by the Jonah
Barrington Squash Academy at Millfield School in Somerset.
“I was there for four years,” said Creed. “Three of the other players in the
GB team – Joel Hinds and Emma Chorley – also attended the Barrington
Academy.”
Creed plays for Rhiwbina in the South Wales Premier, while he also Avon
League squash and is also in the Newport SRC squad for the National Premier
Squash League.
Newport entered the PSL last season and have re-entered for next season.
The World University Championships are held over nine days. An individual
event will be run over the first four days followed by the team
championships.
Creed will then be staying on for a further month.
“There are three tournaments I have entered in Australia to work on improving
my world ranking,” said Creed.
BBQ and Fun Day
On
19 June the club had a BBQ and Fun day to raise some funds to
assist Peter Creed and Sam Fenwick in their representative matches for
GB and Wales this summer.
Over the usual couple of post match
beers on a Sunday night, an idea was turned into a plan and all
that was left to do was to sort out the details. A willing group
of club members got together a couple of days later and thrashed out
some great ideas , and finally came up with the format for the day.
We only had 10 days before the event so once all the
volunteers had accepted their individual tasks, it was time to get on,
advertise and prepare.
BBQ, Raffle, Auction, Table
Tennis Challenge, Name the Monkey, Stocks, Football Target, Sweet
Stall, Treasure Hunt, Chess Challenge, Guess the amount of Squash Balls
and retire to the bar was the format of the day. An early start
for those who watched Wales v The all Blacks at 0800hrs but it was also
a good excuse to fire up the BBQ in preparation for the day (thanks
Steve and Harry). After a few last minute problems to sort out,
the venue was set up and all that was needed were the club members and
guests to arrive. Richard plenty had struck a great deal with a
former club member Lee Adams of "Tasty Tucker" and
had arrived with the mountain of food for the BBQ, the Michelin Chef
arrived in good time (he looked remarkably like Chris Powell) and the
festivities began.
The day was going well and the arrival of the
two players who the whole event was in aide of, spurred on all the
volunteers who were busy raising funds for their cause. Huw had
taken the plunge (literally) and was first to enter the stocks much to
the delight of the waiting youngsters. Others then felt the need
to receive a soaking from whoever would pay for the pleasure. A
special thanks should go to Bob Perry who managed to create a cue equal
to the boxing day Next cue in Queens St Cardiff when he went into the
stocks.
  
Huw getting a full face shot
Ross about to get it
Looks like Worky is having to much fun
Dewi
had set up a Football challenge in one of the courts in the
traditional fashion of kicking the ball through the hole. When he
initially set up, Huw and Paul Foode went to see how it would work.
Paul said to Huw that it was quite easy and we should charge an
amount appropriate to the challenge. Huw did not agree and
thought that the challenge was very difficult and we should reward
anyone who managed to kick the ball through the whole accordingly.
Foody then picked the ball up, place it on the spot and kicked
the ball straight through the whole without touching the sides.
Dewi and Huw were standing in stunned silence!! Dewi later
told Huw that it was another 4 hours before anyone kicked it through
and only two managed it all day.
Bob trying to match Foody's skills
The
day carried on with Colyn Thomas continuing to sell raffle tickets
Becci organizing all the youngsters into team games and Chris
Powell and Richard Plenty continuously cooking away, selling the
mountain of food we had for all to eat. Various other people
entered the stocks throughout the rest of the day and the Creed
family had such fun, I think they have had a word with Bob Perry to
loan the stocks on a permanent basis.
The Members and guests
We
all retired to the bar for the raffle and auction at 1800hrs. The
raffle was very well represented and stocked with donated prizes.
Thanks to Colyns relentless selling techniques throughout the day, it
raised a large amount of money.
The auction was then carried out
by Mike Workman of Squash Wales, who with his usual style and flair
managed to squeeze as much out of the audience for each lot.
A great
big thanks must go to all those who bid and especially those who
placed the winning bid on each of the lots. The auction raised a
magnificent £700.
After the auction the Chairman, Mr Paul Foode
made a speech and announced that through all the efforts of the day, we
had managed to raise £1200.
The evening continued in good
fashion with most of the members and guests staying in the bar and
carrying on the festivities. Chris and Richard were still cooking
and by this stage there was a two way tie for the most burgers consumed
in one day, both Dewi and Steve Thomas were 1 away from double
figures.
A huge thank you must go to those who hatched the
original plan and put the wheels in motion to ensure the day went
ahead, the result speaks for itself!
Thank You
Foody,
Rich Plenty, Huw, Chris Powell, Bob Perry, Dewi & Becci, Adrian and
Cheryl Creed, Steve Thomas, Jane, Colyn and Mike Workman.
Tasty Tucker the BBQ sponsors can be contacted on 07930820480 for all your catering needs. Without the donation from Lee Adams of Tasty Tucker the BBQ would not of been such a success.
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