Squash team optimistic despite loss

The Bucs season got under way for the men’s Squash first team last Wednesday with an away fixture against a challenging University of Birmingham’s second team. With a wealth of talent at their disposal, Birmingham always represent a particularly tough challenge.

This match was no exception and ended in a 4-1 victory for Birmingham, as they seek to defend their six year stint as champions of the Midlands Conference. This is because they are barred from joining their first team in the National Premier League.

There was an encouraging win for Bucs debutant Shawn Grubbin, at rank 5, who came away the victor after a tight game. Grubbin was 9-5 down with the match level at 1-1 but went on to pull it back and win 12-10. This became a crucial turning point as Grubbin went on to seal the victory 3-1.

Other contests proved hard-fought but ultimately the class of the Birmingham side showed through with 3-0 wins against Davidson, Coonan, Reed and Le Conte.

The men’s team may take solace in the fact that they have untapped potential in the form of Hugo Diamond, the former U19 Ireland No.1, who was unavailable for play against the Birmingham third team. Diamond could prove a vital resource for first team captain Mark Le Conte as he aims to improve on last year’s fourth place finish in what is an incredibly competitive and strong league.

Overall, the outlook for the Squash Club is looking bright. Active social membership and club night attendance has dramatically improved on last year with the current total members this year already topping 160 and set to grow further throughout the year. The men’s teams have had strong starts to their Warwickshire league seasons as they seek promotion from divisions 2, 4 and 6 respectively.

Trials also proved relatively fruitful with a combined total of more than ten new additions to the Men’s and Women’s teams as they look to consolidate a deep squad. The men’s first and second teams can also forward to the first ever Varsity game against a ten-man Coventry squad as part of the series and will hope to build on a 7-3 friendly win last year.

The Bucs season will get under way in earnest for the men’s second and third teams along with the women’s team on the 26th October against Birmingham 3rds, Oxford 2nds and University of Bedfordshire Women’s 1sts respectively. The men’s first team have a challenging fixture against Loughborough 2nds.