Jesters vs RAC @ Pall Mall 3/1/2025 – Official Match Report by Richard Winter.
This annual match has now been running many years. It is the perfect opportunity to bring like minded squash players together who have all had too many mince pies over the festive period.
This year we had an exciting new line up of players. The RAC/Jesters teams were:
1. Akshaye Wadhwa vs Oli Jefferies
2. Mike Roper vs David Main
3. Dom Curtis vs Richard Winter
4. Nick Mahon vs Emil Elmer
5. Elly Singer vs Tanith Foster (Jesters candidate)
Everyone arrived on time for the 7pm courts.
Tanith was already warming up on Court 4 so Elly and Tanith went on first for their match. They had never played each other before despite both being RAC members. This was one of Tanith’s first candidate matches for the Jesters Club.
An even match with some fantastic rallies. The first game went to Elly 11/8 having been 8/8 and looking very even. The second went the distance. 14/12 with some brutal rallies but Elly took it going 2/0 up. Had Tanith taken that game it could have gone either way but with Elly now in the driving seat and her confidence building it was going to be hard to come back for Tanith. Elly took the 3rd game 11/6.
Meanwhile on Court 2 the number 4 strings Nick and Emil (right in photo) were doing battle. Nick had taken the first comfortably 11/6.
Emil found his form and admitted over dinner, he takes time to warm up to the RAC courts. He managed to take the next 3 but it wasn’t all plain sailing. Some punishing rallies and a very close 3rd and 4th games both 11/9. Emil was clearly very happy with his recovery and 3/1 win.
Mike (left in photo) and David followed on Court 1. I missed the match. David is a talented shot player but for some reason tried to rally with Mike who was nearly 20 years younger and a triathlete!
This strategy didn’t go well for David despite getting to 9 points in both the first and second games, he went down 3/0
I was on against Dom Curtis in our annual match. We actually played just before Christmas and always have a good game. Dom has the most brilliant backhand return from the right hand court sending the ball deep into my back-hand court and making it almost impossible to do anything apart from boast and then he plays a tidy drop to win the point. At 1-1 Dom was looking strong but in the 3rd and 4th game he started to tire and I managed to nick a 3/1 win this year.
So with the match tied at 2/2 the number 1s went on to seal the deal.
Akshaye and Oli are both Jesters but Akshaye was the RAC member and therefore playing for the home side.
I don’t see the game but I gathered that Oli had eaten too many mince pies over Christmas! Akshaye managed a clean 3/0 win and the match looked like it was won 3/2 to the RAC.
In a surprising turn of events Elly suggested to Dom and me that she would like a game of doubles as she had never played doubles before. So we headed over to Court 4 and Dom sided with Elly against Tanith and me. Elly wasted no time in learning the rules and the rallies were hilarious. Tanith and I won the first 15/12 after some impressive rallies up and down the forehand with both ladies playing tight squash. The second went to Dom and Elly 15/13. We had to call it a day as the rest of the team were heading to the long bar. Extraordinarily on a count back Dom and Elly won more points so the match ended 3/3.
The RAC team in the Long bar were exceptional and we all got stuck into the best roast beef in London, washed down with our famous club claret. No sign of dry January!
