The Jesters Amateur Championship, 2024 – Tournament report by Tim Garner
January 29th, 2024… one of the earliest finishes in the Jester’s history (it will be back to the first Monday in February in 2025) saw another bumper draw descend on the big smoke. The 4th edition of the Women’s championship was hosted at The Queen’s Club in West London, while the 43rd edition of the Men’s Championship landed at the Royal Automobile Club and Oxford & Cambridge Club. A fabulous Finals night then took place at the RAC on Monday. Once again it was a strong entry list, potentially the strongest ever in terms of depth, with 135 male and 12 female players making it to the starting line (and not a no-show in sight, it seems prepayment works!) and an incredible 190 matches being played over the weekend.
The Amateur
Holder: Luke Bishop
Seeds:
1.Luke Bishop
2.James Snell
3.Jack Webster
4.Steve Richardson
The pre-event talk was of the strongest draw in term of depth, ever, and the opening skirmishes seemed to back that up with defending champion Luke Bishop being pushed to the wire by Ed Dromgool in the second round! Thereafter, it was often the match before that led to the next result, as player after player battled through tough encounters only to fall at the next hurdle. The mercurial skills of Mohamed Elshamy enthralled the crowd, but couldn’t get him past a focussed James Snell, who then saw off Jack Webster in the Semis. Dan West out Bishop, but then found it was a road too far against newcomer Dec Christie, who had also scalped 13-time winner Steve Richardson enroute, to the final.
The Final “I’ll be back!” said James Snell on losing to Steve Richardson in the 2016 final. A knee injury, then Covid delayed that, but having made the Semis last year he returned to the final this year taking on debutant Dec Christie. It’s one thing battling your way through 5 rounds to get to Monday night, but another challenge then awaits with the volume & temperature dial cranked up by the 100+ spectators. His previous experience put him in good stead and Snell wasn’t about to let another one slip away. A clinical performance saw him work Christie to all 4 corners of the court, picking up points with trade-mark precise drops to get the win he had patiently waited for.
Score: James Snell beat Dec Christie 9/3 9/0 9/0
The Women’s Amateur
Holder: Amber Marshall
Seeds:
1.Catherine Ruffle
2.Emily Peach
Twelve players headed to the Queen’s Club to take part in the in the third edition of the Women’s Championship. The match of the tournament saw Olha Zarodozhna edge past Georgina Brown in five games, but it was the top two seeds who ended up taking up the final berths on Monday night.
The Final Peach came out of the blocks flying and it was all Ruffle could do to stem the flow. Working hard to control the pace of the game, she started to accumulate some points, but Peach took the first & never took her foot off the accelerator as she raced home in straight games.
Score: Emily Peach beat Catherine Ruffle 9/5 9/2 9/3
The Over 35’s Amateur
Holder: Jamie Douglas
Seeds:
1.Chirage Shah
2.Andrew Fenby
Having lost in last year’s final, Chirag Shah was back as top seed with Jamie Douglas having been drinking from the fountain of youth and deciding to throw his name back in the Amateur Championship hat. Shah duly took up his spot in the final and was joined by ex-rugby professional Andrew Fenby who put paid to Lithemba Villeman’s hopes of another final in four tough games.
The Final It was a real contrast of styles with the nimble deft game of Shah trying to negate the powerful hitting of Fenby. Having shared the opening two games, it was Shah who started to get control of proceedings eventually running out a winner in four.
Score: Chirag Shah beat Andrew Fenby 5/9 9/1 9/4 9/2
The Veteran’s Amateur
Holder: Tim Garner
Seeds:
1.Tim Garner
2.Paul Boyle
The Veteran’s was once again a competitive category, but pre-tournament favourite Tim Garner was dumped out at the Quarter-Final stage by Charlie McCall, who spent the rest of the day fielding media requests, as well as the disbelief of his squash buddies. Unaffected, he backed things up by getting past Chris Dawson who had beaten Nick Staunton in the battle of the short games. The Staunton family were still represented, however, as twin brother Rob eased past Joss Hargrave before winning a titanic battle with Paul Boyle.
The Final After a cagey start, Staunton sneaked the first but was in dire trouble in the second finding himself at 0/8 in double quick time. However, sensing the importance of the game he worked his way back to win it … only to find himself 1/8 in the third! No such recovery this time, but as the fourth ebbed and flowed he gradually got closer to the finishing line eventually winning 3-1 in a little over an hour.
Score: Rob Staunton beat Charlie McCall 9/7 10/8 1/9 9/6
The Vintage Amateur
Holder: Alex Betts
Seeds:
1.Andrew Normile
2.Shailendra Kumar
In what turned out to be the event of the tournament, there was early drama as first, top seed Andrew Normile retired at match-ball up in the first round, then second seed Shailendra Kumar was pegged back and edged out by Manoj Nair in five. Elsewhere Richard Winter was starting his fairytale journey with a hard-fought five set win over David Speed. Tim Smith moved quietly through the draw to the final, while Winter battled his way onwards to join him there.
The Final Fittingly, the final match of the evening saw RAC member Winter take on Smith. Having been up since 3am, such was his excitement at being part of Monday’s night proceedings, Winter could have been expected to start slowly, he did not. Throwing himself around the court he gradually built up a lead to the delight of his band of supporters, leaving Smith scratching his head! The crowd were on the edge of their seats and not long later standing to applaud their champion. A fitting winner of his first Jesters title!
Score: Richard Winter beat Tim Smith 9/6 9/5 9/6
The Venerable’s Amateur
Holder: Dermot Hurford
Seeds:
1.Eamonn Price
2.Teejay Sogunro
The 60s draw was all about quality rather than quantity as Eamonn Price & Teejay Sogunro won their first-round aka semi-final matches to meet in the final.
The Final Price has a habit of picking up silverware at the Jesters and 2024 was no different in spite of the best efforts of Sogunro, who did at least make him earn his post-match beers.
Score: Eamonn Price beat Teejay Sogunro 9/1 9/1 9/4
The Vulnerable’s Amateur
Holder: Stuart Hardy
Seeds:
1.Stuart Hardy
2.Allen Barwise
Once again, the Vulnerables didn’t live up to their name, with a solid draw making it to the RAC and even with several in their 70s (and no, there are no plans for an Over 70s event!) There were plenty of quality matches, but it was the top seeds that eased through to the final.
The Final Allen Barwise was heavy favourite going into the encounter, but defending Champion Stuart Hardy wasn’t letting go without a fight. Using his trademark ball control, Hardy took the first to ask a few questions of Barwise. Unluckily for him, Barwise had the answers and won the next three to win in four!
Score: Allen Barwise beat Stuart Hardy 7/9 9/6 9/2 9/1
The Amateur Plate
Holder: Ben Mann
40 players took part in the Plate event, which was drawn from the Over 45s and younger. It’s also known as a ‘moveable feast’ given you are never quite sure how many matches you have left until you are in the final on Monday! There were some tough matches throughout ending with the classic late-night encounters on Sunday!
The Final Ben Mann was back in the Plate and had negotiated his passage at less energy expense than Ewan Bowerbank. This is probably the key in the Plate and once again proved vital as despite three close fought games it was the ‘spring’ in Mann’s step that saw him home and Bowerbank on to the floor!
Score: Ben Mann beat Ewan Bowerbank 9/6 9/1 9/6
The Women’s Amateur Plate
Holder: Stephanie Smith
The Final Whilst the women’s plate didn’t have the volume of squash, the final had drama a plenty! Shannon Harrington leapt to a two game lead but was worked hard by 2022 plate winner Georgina Brown. This started to pay dividends as Brown begun to get on top of the rallies and eventually sealed the deal in five games.
Score: Georgina Brown beat Shannon Harrington 1/9 4/9 9/2 9/3 9/2
The Championship team of Peter Chalk, Janet Raffety, Sean Hayden and Tim Garner helped deliver another fantastic weekend of squash. Thanks to Harry Parkes for his help over the weekend and as Finals night chief photographer. Also thank you to everyone who helped mark the finals – special mention to Nigel Belle who oversaw all three finals on court 3. The prizes were handed out by Robert Dolman (President of The Jesters Club) with over 120 guests attending the evening. It was a fantastic atmosphere and enjoyed by all who attended. The RAC, Oxford & Cambridge Club & the Queens Club once again proved wonderful hosts of the event and everyone is looking forward to returning in 2025.
