Hurricanes into squash grand final

by Bruce Bowering
In the Baw Baw Squash Club preliminary final the Hurricanes accounted for the Thunder 3-9-206 to 1-6-158.
The first match between Bruce Bowering and Al McArdle saw both players encounter difficulties with the extra life in the ball due to warmer weather.
Apart from several serves going too high the general play was of quite a good standard, with several rallies punctuating quicker outcomes. However, it was the strength of Al's shots that gave him the edge.
For the ones that were not outright winners down the wall, Bruce was rushed in his returns that often finished in the front half of the court. This gave Al another opportunity to set up a winning shot.
When not under that pressure Bruce's experience kept him in the match but the crispness of Al's shots to a good length enabled a comfortable win for him, and the Thunder, 15-9, 15-12, 15-11.
In the following match another closely ranked pairing took to the court.
The Thunder's Romy Mondschein got off to a good start against Ralph Upston by winning the first game 15-12.
Her tight forehand drives to a good length and energetic court coverage gave her an advantage. Ralph confided later that he was short of energy, but that was overcome in the second game.
Excellent serving, particularly to Romy's backhand drew several errors and gave Ralph a breather.
When the serves were not winners they were not strongly returned and Ralph was in a position of advantage. He won that game 15-9.
In the next game, with the same strategy, Ralph gained a strong lead, but Romy came storming back with some excellent serves of her own.
Ralph missed or mishit a number of returns and scores drew level, but Ralph continued to exploit Romy's back corner weakness to take out the game 15-10.
In the fourth game Romy made adjustments and improved her return of serve. The standard of play lifted with rallies moving both players around as variations in depth and strength of shots necessitated.
In the end it was quick reaction and clever placement from Ralph either dropping short and tight or lobbing back that finalised the match 15-12.
One match each and the rubber was evenly poised.
Dave Dzur and Peter Young also had similar rankings, but you wouldn't have known it after the first game.
Dave was everywhere on the court and did not make a mistake to blitz Peter 15-2.
The second was not much different although Peter started to get some accuracy in his groundstrokes and overheads, but it was not enough as Dave claimed that game 15-9.
The Thunder's hopes were lifted in the third as Dave went off the boil and Peter started to hit his straps.
Both players love returning serve on the backhand low above the tin and tight on the wall.
Peter began to anticipate this and was able to reach them and play the ball away from Dave. Dave also started to miss some forehand drop shots but generally played good length close to the wall.
On the other hand, Peter focussed on cross-courts away from Dave. The game reached a tie-break and Dave called "short," meaning the winner of the next rally won the game.
This is not usually done when players are evenly matched, but a win for Dave would have given him the match and the Hurricanes a virtually unassailable lead. He missed Peter's serve completely and it was 15-14 to Peter.
The match was still alive and he had the momentum.
Game four was similar to the previous one but with few mistakes from either player.
Peter won it 15-13 and the pressure was right on Dave. His usual effervescence was tempered and he steadied to again put Peter under pressure, finally taking out the match 15-7.
In the final match the Thunder's David Winterton had to win in three sets while giving the top player, Mike Griffith, no more than an average of seven points per game. It didn't happen.
On several occasions recently Mike has demonstrated his command of the game. He hardly missed a return from anywhere in the court.
David mostly plays straight with power to a good length, reacts quickly and retrieves well.
This enabled him to return most of Mike's hard drives, but was not enough to counter his variations of pace and direction.
No matter where he is Mike seems to play the most advantageous shot. His ability to return a hard-hit stroke with one of his own, a complete pace-off drop shot just above the tin, or a perfectly timed lob into a back corner is uncanny.
With such variation he won the first game 15-6 to put the Hurricanes through to the grand final.
David lifted in the next game and had Mike under pressure with a lead and just a few points to go in the game.
During that game he drew a few errors from Mike but it got away as he lost the serve and Mike capitalised to take the second 15-12.
Mike again tried to finish with a 15-0 game as he did last week but he was thwarted by David with a final score of 15-1.
It is a great pleasure watching him in action and with him leading the Hurricanes they will likely start favourites in the grand final this Thursday, although a lower-ranked substitute will fill in for Ralph Upston who is unavailable.