The new Isle of Man Squash Rackets Association season started last week with the Manx Telecom Dave Karran Memorial Tournament.

The event was restricted to 32 players and, with a full draw, each competitor was promised a full five matches using the Monrad or Swiss system.

There were no upsets in the first round which went according to seeding. Normally the 16th and 17th seeds match-up can be quite close but Shaun Wyllie made a good start to the season with a 3-0 win over his close rival.

The only match which didn’t return a 3-0 win was between Marc Taggart and Steve Morley. On three occasions the game scores were 12-10 in this match, but Morley got the win 3-1.

In the second round the seeding still proved to be a good predictor of the results, but there were three very close matches. The eighth and ninth seed fixture brought Mason McLarney against the competitive James Ramsey in a super contest, with McLarney just earning his place in the quarter-final with a 14-12 win in the fifth.

Another five-game battle was between two stalwarts of local squash, current IoMSRA president Les Callow and ex-chairman Peter Ferguson, resulting in Ferguson just getting the better of his older opponent 3-2.

Two very promisingcontinued from back

youngsters also enjoyed a close encounter as Isaac Quayle took on Emma Leith and eventually took the win 3-2.

As the rounds progress, scores tend to get tighter because players are more evenly-matched and the third round saw a number of close 3-2 matches.

Some notable ones were the experienced Mike Hayler beating Angus Hopkinson, Oliver Williams triumphing over Isaac Quayle, Ben Leith battling hard to get the better of Peter Baker and Richard Cretney seeing off Marc Taggart.

There was also a fine performance by Liam Townsend who managed to get a 3-0 win over Harvey Douglas.

There were some super matches in the fourth round but the best was the match-up between the second and third seeds Pat Fitzpatrick and Jason Blue which went all the way, with the latter just clinching this attritional match 11-4 in the final game.

Other noteworthy five-game matches were Townsend overcoming Williams and Vicky Watterson beating her new team-mate Phil Butler. There were also some seeding upsets when Ben Peach, Beth Jones and Andrew Brown all triumphed over higher-ranked opponents with 3-0 scorelines.

The final round produced yet more cracking squash. Falcons’ new recruit V. Watterson beat Misfit Stephen Pitts 3-2, while Quayle had yet another 3-2 match beating Baker to claim 23rd place.

Argosy Allstars team-mates Dave O’Neill and Steve Morley had a great match, with O’Neill coming back from 2-0 down to take the match 3-2 and claim 15th.

The play-off for seventh place brought together McLarney and Steve Baker. The former went 2-1 up but Baker levelled it at 2-2 only to see a very determined McLarney take the fifth game 11-2 to win the match.

The first of the key matches in this round was a play-off for the ninth-ranked player. James Ramsey and Toby Woolard took it in turns to win games but Ramsey eventually claimed the 3-2 victory.

The plate final was between university student Townsend and local ’bobby’ Cretney.

The latter got off to a good start and was 2-0 up but Townsend is a real-fighter and clawed his way back into the match to take the next three games and the final 3-2.

The third-place play-off was a real epic between Hamish Thornton and Malcolm Levy. The latter’s never-say-die attitude is a real example and, despite being 2-0 down and looking like he had lost, he dug deep and managed to come back to claim a 3-2 win.

The final was a battle between the wily and experienced Ashley Sandyford-Sykes and the youthful and energetic Blue.

Sandyford-Sykes played very aggressive squash and never really gave Blue a chance to settle into the match and find a rhythm, Sykes winning the final 11-4, 11-7, 11-7 to claim the title.

The Manx Telecom Rosebowl was presented to the winner by the late Dave Karran’s brothers Bill and Brian. The IoMSRA would like to thank Manx Telecom and the Karran family for their continued support of this season-opening tournament.