Varsity: Warwick Squash run riot

Squash come alive at Varsity. Few more in #TeamWarwick relish the chance to give Coventry a hiding as much as they. It’s the highlight of their season and they rarely disappoint. This was as emphatic as it was expected and everything #TeamWarwick should be. Coventry, as if defeated before the hit of a ball, came with limited ambitions – they left with yet another Varsity bruising.

Matthew Eggington and Oli Hayes were up first and both quickly asserted their dominance, Eggington storming to an 11-3 first game win, finishing his opponent with a deft cross court flick. Each home point lost sparked light-ribbing from the home support, all in attendance fully expectant of a bagel. They nearly got one in Eggington’s final game, breezing to an 11-1 win as both players won in three games.

This was as emphatic as it was expected and everything #TeamWarwick should be

Next up was No. 2 and No. 3 Alex Li and Liam Stafford. Both looked eager to show what they could do, brimming with confidence in the certainty of a win. Stafford’s jovial mood momentarily turned to frustration as he sent the ball crashing into the tin at 10-0 to miss out on the bagel. Indeed, it was a case of Warwick giving away a point; that one Coventry player afterwards commented “I enjoyed it though” was a mark of their limited ambitions, content with a loss and Warwick’s incontestable dominance.

Stafford was not to make the same mistake again, finishing the third game with an 11-0 bagel. Once more, both players breezed past their opponent in successive games, steamrolling Warwick into an unassailable 4-0 lead. No. 1 Declan O’Callaghan’s game, however, would not be so easy.

squash deserve credit as one of the most reliable and consistent Varsity teams

O’Callaghan faced by far and away Coventry’s best player, Sam Haycock. A packed crowd watched with expectant eyes as Warwick attempted to repeat the feats of last year’s 5-0 whitewash. Yet Haycock would not so easily push over, narrowly losing the first game in a 12-10 thriller. The jovial mood dissipated, in its place a palpable tension that only intensified as Haycock stormed the second game 11-1.

From then on, O’Callaghan never quite recovered, losing the third and fourth games 9-11, 5-11 as Coventry escaped with a consolation point. Yet, that disappointment aside, squash deserve credit as one of the most reliable and consistent Varsity teams. Indeed, with tennis, table tennis and badminton all either losing or drawing their matches this year, squash provided #TeamWarwick with its only racket sport win. Upsets come and go at Varsity – in the squash courts, it would take a poly miracle.