Warwick Squash Coventry Challenge

Star Performer: Rob Clayden – with the match wrapped up, the top seed still put in a dazzling performance.

Warwick Squash tore through their Coventry counterparts to record one of the most one-sided victories of Varsity 2016. Even an aggregate score of 165-46 didn’t adequately illustrate the level of dominance enjoyed by a team that ruthlessly took advantage of every opportunity that came their way.

A packed viewing balcony watched on as Liam Stafford and Tom Hay started the rout on courts one and two respectively. With all but the final match being played simultaneously with another, keeping up to date with the fortunes of both players required a normally-unachievable level of multitasking. Helpfully, Hay and Stafford made it easy by winning their first two games by the same margin of victory; 11-3 and 11-0. Learning that an 11-0 game is known as a ‘bagel’ in Squash lingo began a frantic and ultimately unsuccessful search for breakfast-based puns.

The highlight of the first pair of matches was an outrageous through the legs winner from Stafford, which was met with deserved applause. By this time Hay had finished with his opponent; the last game ending 11-1. Stafford was a little more lenient, but in the blink of an eye he had won his final game 11-4 and Warwick were 2-0 up.

Learning that an 11-0 game is known as a ‘bagel’ in Squash lingo began a frantic and ultimately unsuccessful search for breakfast-based puns.

Next up were Declan O’Callaghan and Alex Li. Any worries that a last-minute change of footwear would put O’Callaghan off his stride were dispelled by a third ‘bagel’ of the tie. His opponent regained some pride in the next game, hitting a shot that drew applause from the balcony and a nod of approval from O’Callaghan. Reassuringly, he was quickly put back in his place as O’Callaghan triumphed for the loss of just three points. The Coventry man was clearly a good player and threatened to take the third game – as it transpired, the 11-7 score was the closest any Coventry player came.

On the adjacent court, Li’s match turned out to be the opposite of O’Callaghan’s. An opening game that finished 11-6 in the Warwick man’s favour seemed to suggest that he would be pushed all the way. Normality was soon restored by a clinical performance that saw Li concede just five points in the next two games.

Warwick had already secured those two precious Varsity points when number one seed Rob Clayden took to the court. Faced with an opponent who rather unsettlingly stared him down before every serve, it appeared that Clayden would have a psychological, as well as a physical battle. Though the first two games were well fought, it was obvious who the superior player was. Clayden won them both 11-6 and as the final game began, he had the chance to complete the whitewash.

As the Coventry player became steadily more frustrated, Clayden kept his cool to close out the victory with an 11-2 game win.