SQUASH - Varsity Match 2011
Saturday 19 February 2011
After a year of hard training and dedication to the team, both the men’s blues and women’s blues felt confident taking on Oxford on 19th Feb. The matches were held on neutral territory at the Royal Automobile Club in London, a prestigious club for this great traditional battle (one of the oldest squash matches in the world).
The women kicked off at 1.30pm with Stephanie Jacquot (reserve) and Ploy Achakulwisut (5th string) going on first. Stephanie quickly dispatched the Oxford captain 27-0. Ploy on the other court had a tough match, fought back after being 2-0 down but lost this fierce match 3-2. Next on court were Yvonne Ang (4th string) and Akanksha Hazari (3rd string). Yvonne demonstrated her experience on the hot RAC courts and finished the game quickly 3-0 in her favour. Akanksha was on against a very experienced Oxford player and unfortunately lost after a display of some great squash skills. Last on court were the Cambridge captain Andrea Kuesters (2nd string) and Rebecca Palmer (1st string). Andrea had a great game, with some brutal rallies, but in the end lost to a very skillful Oxford player. Rebecca showed great determination, coming out of the blocks to a 2-0 lead. However, the determined Oxford # 1 fought back and won the next three games.
At 4pm the men went on court, confident to put Oxford in their place. Jake Maughan (reserve) and Jack Styles (5th string) started strong, winning 3-0. Next on were the Cambridge captain Tim Helme (4th string) and Dave Allman (3rd string). Both were determined and defeated their Oxford opponents quickly in straight games. With the match already sown up without losing a single game, Mike Mackay (2nd string) and Harry Leitch (1st string) went on court to rub salt into the wound. They did so in style, winning 3-0 and 3-1 respectively. What was probably a record breaking win in terms of game scores has lengthened the current Cambridge dominance of the men’s match; winning 13 out of the past 14 matches.
The 2nd and 3rd teams had their Varsity match two weeks later. Both the men’s 2nd and 3rd team won 5-0 and the women’s teams both won 4-1.
Women's 1st
Cambridge 1 : 4 Oxford 4
Men's 1st
Cambridge 5 : 0 Oxford
Women's 2nd
Cambridge 4 : 1 Oxford
Women's 3rd
Cambridge 4: 1 Oxford 1
Men's 2nd
Cambridge 5 : 0 Oxford
Men's 3rd
Cambridge 5 : 0 Oxford
