Firsts galore at the Scottish Open

News  Tournaments
1st May 2023 Comment off

Fettes College, Edinburgh
Saturday/Sunday, 29-30 April 2023

STOP PRESS There was a series of firsts recorded at this year’s Scottish Open: Richie Murby won his first Singles title, denying Dan Grant his first; RFA President Julie McIntyre won her first title, the Doubles with Richie — a double first for him –, and it is likely that she became the first sitting President of the RFA to win a maiden title, while also surely being the first mother to follow her son in winning that event, Oscar McIntyre having won it last year. Richie and Julie’s win must also be the first case of a mixed pair winning a regional open event. Strathallan School, who are playing their Fives on squash courts, recorded their first medal-winning performance, with Eric M teaming up with Derby Moor’s Lewis Keates to win the Doubles Plate, while Edinburgh Academy’s Findlay S won the Singles Plate.

Richie Murby reports: The Singles took the form of two pools, with the top two from each qualifying for the semi-finals and the rest going into the Plate. The Plate final turned out to be an all-schoolboy matchup, with Loretto’s improving Findlay S. taking on Edinburgh Academy southpaw Alec S. Findlay defended well but was unable to consistently move Alec out of position, and Alec ran out a comfortable winner.

In the main competition, the semi-finals saw group winners Dan Grant and Richie Murby pitted against group runners-up Ben Jourdan and Lewis Keates respectively. Ben Jourdan went all out in a fast and entertaining semi-final, but ultimately could not outpace Dan, who seemed if anything to relish the high speed. In the other semi-final, Lewis Keates fought hard against Richie Murby but was hampered by an ankle problem and lost in two games.
 
The final, however, was to go to three. Richie won the first game surprisingly quickly with some off-platform dropshots and decent width. For Game 2, Dan made the right adjustments, showing high-quality rally construction and execution, and some of his trademark volleys. This translated to an 11-5 victory. In the decider, Dan took an early lead, but, with both players tiring, Richie managed to keep the error count a little lower than his opponent, and to grind out a run of points that eventually took him over the line for his first Open singles title. 
 
The Doubles were played on Sunday.With 8 players representing their school (7 pupils and and one member of staff, the irrepressible Ewan Lee), Strathallan made up fully half of the draw. That Strathallan came down in such numbers is hugely positive for the game  — especially when one considers that, until very recently, the school had not played the game in decades. All of the boys played well, especially given that they train on squash courts. We hope to see more of Strathallan fives in the coming years.
 
As is customary for this tournament, the pairings were drawn up by the organisers in a bid for parity. The only all-Strathallan pairing, Ed L and Magnus M, were unlucky not to make it out of their group: although they collected more points than their closest competitors, they scored one less win and thereby missed out. They came very close to winning the Plate too, but were pipped by another Strathallan player, Eric M, and his highly experienced partner, Lewis Keates. 
 
In the main competition, we were delighted to see the return of Ian Purvis, former National Schools Doubles champion. He and his partner, Strathallan pupil Oliver D-H, combined well to reach the final. However, Julie MacIntyre & Richie Murby, having ended Enrique Carbonell’s ambitions of repeating last year’s doubles win, built an unassailable lead in the final, winning 15-3, and securing a first Open Doubles winner’s medal for a delighted RFA President!

Results

Singles

Round Robin

Group A: 1st D Grant; 2nd L Keates; 3rd Alec S; 4th Findlay S; 5th J McIntyre
Group B: 1st R Murby: 2nd B Jourdan; 3rd E Hodges; 4th Hattie W

Semi-finals: Murby bt Keates 11-1, 11-3; Grant bt Jourdan 11-4, 11-3
Final: Murby bt Grant 11-0, 5-11, 11-5
Plate: Alec S bt Findlay S 15-4

Doubles

Group A: 1st  J McIntyre & R Murby; 2nd Ed L & Magnus M; 3rd Oliver D-H & I Purvis
Group B: Forbes S & Toby C; 2nd E Carbonell & Oscar P; 3rd L Keates & Eric M; 4th E Lee & Charlie W

Semi-finals: McIntyre & Murby bt Carbonell & Oscar P 15-6; Oliver D-H & Purvis bt Forbes S & Toby C 15-7
Final: J McIntyre & R Murby bt Oliver D-H & I Purvis 15-3
Plate: L Keates & Eric M bt Ed H & Magnus M 15-12

First Scottish Singles title for Richie

Medal awarded by the President — and partner

Dan still smiling

Action from the final

Plate medal for Edinburgh Academy’s Findlay

The Doubles finalists from Durham and Edinburgh

Medallists from Derby, Strathallan, Durham and Edinburgh