Irish No 1 Madeline Perry won her 14th women’s title at the National Squash Championships hosted by Fitzwilliam LTC in Dublin.
Last year, Aisling Blake had ended Perry’s winning streak, but with Blake currently sidelined by injury, there was no chance for revenge. Instead Perry faced international player Laura Mylotte in the final and won the match comfortably in three games.
In the men’s final, Arthur Gaskin also had a point to prove having lost to the veteran Derek Ryan last year in a marathon five-setter. With the pair again facing each other in the final, Gaskin started the match at a furious pace, racing to a 11-2 victory in the opening game. He then increased the pressure on the 44-year old Ryan and nailed down the second game also with the score at 11-2.
In the third, Gaskin had gone 6-3 up when Ryan, calling on all his considerable experience, drew level at 7-7 and then pulled ahead to win 11-7. By now, the pace was telling on both players but in the fourth game, Gaskin went into a 6-1 lead before closing out the match at 11-3 for his third national title. Winning the third place play-off was Brian Byrne, who beat Irish junior champion Michael Craig.
* Dublin swimmer Barry Murphy won bronze in the 50m breast stroke at the European Short Course Championships in Denmark today. Murphy was only eighth fastest going into the final, but his time of 26.56 secs in the final pulled him into third place. It was a fifth medal for Ireland in these championships over the past four years
Squash National Championships, Fitzwilliam LTC, Dublin –
Women – Semi- finals: (1) M Perry bt 94) G Gillanders 11-2,11-2,11-2; (2) L Mylotte bt (3) C Moloney 11-7, 11-2, 11-4.Final: (1) M Perry by (2) L Mylotte 11-4, 11-3, 11-5. 3rd/4th: (3) Ciara Moloney bt (4) Griffin Gillanders 11-4,11-7,11-5.
Men – A: Semi-finals: (1) A Gaskin bt (5) M Craig 11-7, 11-4, 12-10; (2) D Ryan bt (6)B Byrne 3-2. Final: (1) A Gaskin bt (2) D Ryan 11-2, 11-2, 7-11, 11-3. 3rd/4th: (3) B Byrne bt (5) M Craig 11-7,7-11, 11-6, 11-7.
M35: Semi-finals: (5) N Staunton bt (1) N Murphy 1-11,11-6,11-7,11-2; (3) R Peyton bt R Staunton ret. Final: (5) N Staunton bt (3) R Peyton 1-11,11-6,11-7,11-1.
M40: Semi-finals: (1) D O’Flynn bt (4)C McCoy 9-2, 9-2, 9-2; (3) D Ayerst bt (10) A Leeson 9-5,9-7-9-5. Final: (1) D O’Flynn bt (3) D Ayerst 11-5, 11-45,11-4. 3rd/4th: (4) C McCoy bt (10) A Leeson 11-4,11-2,11-6.
Quarter-finals –
Women’s A: (1) Madeline Perry bt (8) Fiona M Power 11-2,11-4,11-5; (4) Griffin Gillanders bt (5) Patricia Ryan 11-7,11-4,11-5; (3) Ciara Moloney bt (6) Aishling O’Connor 11-4, 12-10, 11-3; Laura Mylotte bt (10) Jody M Hannon 11-3,11-6, 11-1.
Men – A: (1) Arthur Gaskin bt (8) Conor O’Hare, (5) Michael Craig bt (4) Steve Richardson 13-11,11-7,14-12; (3) Brian Byrne bt ( (6) Nigel Peyton 3-1; (2) Derek Ryan bt (10) Stuart Hadden 11-2, 11-3, 11-4.
B: (1) Mark John Gilliland bt (9) Alex Broadberry 11-2, 12-10, 11-8; (4) Gerry Callanan bt (12) Ryan Luther 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10; (3) Rory Byrne bt (6) Keith Davey 11-9, 11-7, 11-9; (2) Theo Anderson bt (10) Cillian Dunne 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6.
M35: (1) Neal Murphy bt (8) Declan Devitt 9-4,9-8,9-3; (5) Nick Staunton bt (4) John Hurley 9-2, 9-7, 7-9, 9-7; (3) Ronan Peyton bt (6) Neal Pollock 9-0,9-1,9-0; (2) Rob Staunton bt ((7) Shane Shevlin 9-2,9-4,9-6.
M40: (1) Dara O’Flynn v (9) Paul Byrne 9-4,9-8,9-6; (4) Ciaran McCoy bt (12) Cormac Ryan 9-2, 9-0, 9-2; (3) David Ayerst bt (6) Philip Coleman 9-1,903, 9-7; (10) Adrian Leeson bt (2) Clive Morgan w/o.
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