2009-2010 Season
12 March
League Update
The Gordonstoun A, B and C teams continue their quest for success in the Moray Firth leagues.
The A team has consolidated its 3rd place in Division One with all four regular players contributing scores to achieve this position.
The B team are top of Division Two and are now in a fantastic position to win this league. Well done to all of the players in this team.
The C team continue to make improvements and are representing themselves and the school to great effect also in Division Two of the league.
25-27 February
Report on the Squash Tour to Eton and Wellington Colleges and coaching and playing sessions at Queen's Club.
18 February
The A team continued to play well and were comfortable 12-4 winners against their League opponents while the Gordonstoun B team took on and beat the Gordonstoun C team in their League fixture.
11 February
The boys' squash teams played this week. Unfortunately the A team were defeated by a very strong Keith team, The B team enjoyed a good victory whilst the C team suffered the same fate as the A team.
4 February
Gordonstoun A vs Aviemore
Report by Mr Devey
The A team had a very tight match against Aviemore who, after some changes to their team, emerged as much more competitive.
Mori T played nicely against Aviemore's Captain at 4 and, having lost the first two games, he then started a fight back which saw him win the third convincingly and go 5-0 up in the 4th. However, his more experienced opponent kept his head and eventually ran out a 3-1 winner.
Andrew T was off his game and started very slowly, losing the first game in three or four minutes. He then pulled himself back together to win the second before going down pretty quickly in the next two to lose 3-1. Mr Devey played much better this week and felt much sharper. There were some long rallies and tight points but he eventually won 3-0.
Finally, Fergus R at 1 and had a real battle. He pulled back twice from 1-0 and 2-1 down to take it to a fifth set, and won the final game 9-4 due to fitness more than anything.
The final score of 8-8 was a fair reflection of the evening's play.
2 February
The Gordonstoun team of Mori T, James B, Calum M, Akshay D, Henry K, Philip L, Nathan R and Ahmed M recorded a fantastic 8-0 victory over Glenalmond.
31 January 2010
Senior Inter-House Competition
Report by Ms Mason
The senior students played their inter-House squash competition on Sunday looking to emulate the high standard of play demonstrated by the juniors the previous week. The Hopeman girls proved very strong this time defeating all-comers to take the title.
The senior boys played their competition in two pools to produce two league winners who played out a final. The standard of play was very high throughout with Bruce House and Round Square proving strongest in their respective pools.
The final three matches paired School Squash team members Andrew T (RS) with Mori T (B), Adel K (RS) with Henry K (B) and finally James B (RS) with Calum M (B). In three matches of excellent squash it was the Round Square boys who proved strongest overall with Adel and James defeating their opponents to secure the victory. However, in a clash of the titans at number one for each team, Mori T got the better of Andrew T on this occasion leaving the final score 2-1 in favour of Round Square.
Here is a round-up of the results:
Senior Girls:
1st Hopeman (only lost 1 match)
2nd Plewlands
3rd Altyre
4th Windmill
Senior Boys:
1st Round Square
2nd Bruce
3rd Duffus
4th Cumming
5th Altyre
6th G-House
24 January 2010
Junior Inter-House Squash Competition
Report by Ms Mason
The junior girls and boys played their competition on Sunday afternoon. There were several good games played in both competitions with the girl’s competition being particularly close.
Round Square dominated the boy’s competition throughout, proving too strong in all four seeds.
Final standings:
Junior Girls:
1st Windmill (Won: 5 Lost: 3)
2nd Plewlands (Won: 4 Lost: 4)
3rd Hopeman (Won: 3 Lost: 5)
Junior Boys:
1st Round Square (Won: 12 Lost: 0)
2nd Bruce (Won: 5 Lost: 7)
3rd Cumming: (Won: 4 Lost: 8)
4th Duffus (Won: 3 Lost: 9)
18 January 2010
Report by Callum M, Year 13
Gordonstoun B’s played Kinloss Bs this week. Even with a slightly under-strength team we managed to get a fantastic result by winning 9-7 in what turned out to be a double header match.
Mori T, who was promoted to number one in the absence of Adel K, had a great win beating his opponent 3-1 after going 1-0 down. James B, who was named Man of the Match, played well to get a 3-0 win against their number two. Calum M unfortunately narrowly lost 3-2 in a very close-fought and extremely competitive game which either player could have won. Kabir P, who had to be called up from the C team at the last minute, played well but unfortunately lost 3-1 to a very energetic player, who, on one occasion, dived across the court twice in a single point. This was a very good win for the team against a strong opponent and leaves us at the top of Division Three.
14 January 2010
We returned to freshly painted and sanded courts and the term has begun with a flurry of activity and great excitement. All three teams played on Thursday in the league and the Bs and Cs were photographed for the local paper, The Northern Scot.
The A Team narrowly lost 10-8 to Elgin As at Eight Acres but there was an excellent victory for Andrew T against the main sponsor of the league, John Ramsbottom of JR Motors. Fergus R was playing at one and only lost 2-3, which underlines the progress he is making.
The Bs won comfortably against a strong Nairn side. Adel K at number one was beaten by a class player but he nearly outlasted him. Mori T, James B and the captain, Calum M, all won 3-0. At the end of the first half of the season the Bs finished second to Kinloss and so we hope to go one better in this half.
The C team showed how much progress all players have made by only just losing to Buckpool. Kabir P has worked hard on his game during the holidays and only lost 1-3 playing at number one. Philip L came up against a very tenacious opponent; Akshay D lost 2-3 to a very experienced player and Henry K won 3-1.
The excitement is for the tour to London at Leave-out weekend in February. On the first night we play at Eton and will be able to play Eton Fives (a variation of handball) after the match. The next match is against Round Square school Wellington College, where we hope to see lessons on happiness, and then on Saturday we are going to Queen’s Club in Baron's Court, considered to be the finest rackets club in London, where we will receive coaching from Jaz Karim, the professional, and be able to see Real Tennis and Rackets being played.
2 December
Report by Captain of Squash, Andrew Twyman
This week the A team had a tough match against a very strong Keith side. Gordonstoun fielded the usual team with one change - Mori T replaced Mr Devey to join Andy T, Fergus R and Mr Barton. Unfortunately, though, the Keith side proved to be more than a match for the Gordonstoun team. However, with Fergus losing narrowly 3-2 and Mr Barton picking up a game, we managed to leave with 3 points. All bets are now on for Keith to win the league.
Autumn Term Update
Report by Mr Broad
This last week was a momentous one in the history of Gordonstoun squash: Fergus R beat the Scottish numbers one and two U15 players and, in Highlands and Islands Squash League, the B and C teams won 4-0.
Fergus heralds from Wick and decided to come to the school after having met our players when they were playing there on their annual tour en route to Orkney. Now he has been at the school for over a year and has continued to train at the school and at weekends in Edinburgh. At thirteen it is a considerable achievement to be heading under 15s. In the A team he is still playing number four, behind two members of staff, Chris Barton and Richard Devey, and the Captain, Andrew Twyman. However, it won't be long before he claims the number one slot, if he continues at this rate of improvement. The A team is mid table and it looks as if they will in the top half of the 1st Division and so, after the split at Christmas, will be in the upper division.
On Thursday evening the B team led by Adel K, a very talented all-round sportsman from Egypt, beat JR Motors, Elgin Cs, 4-0. Elgin player Gordon George was defeated at number one 3-1 and his brother, Steven, lost 3-0 to Mori T, another player with great ability. These two wins were particularly commendable as both players had been in a gruelling rugby match in the afternoon. Then James B and Calum M, local boys from Cummingston and Forres, beat Ian Rollo and Anna Mcleod 3-0 respectively.
At the same time the C team won 4-0 against Nairn Cs. Ahmed Mohammed was too strong for a young Paul M and Henry K just won 3-2 against Jeff McKenzie. Very promising Kabir P won 3-1 against veteran, David Clem, and Akshay D, the Captain, beat the vastly experienced Steve Ross to complete the clean sweep.
These two wins for the Bs and Cs show just how much progress has been made this term and augurs well for the rest of the year. It is particularly pleasing as no member of staff was playing in either team.
11 November
Report by Captain of Squash, Andrew Twyman
The Gordonstoun A team hosted one of the many Inverness sides last night. Gordonstoun put out a full team comprising of Andy T, Mr Devey Mr Barton and Fergus R. The evening got underway with an extremely comfortable win by Fergus winning 9-0, 9-2, 9-2, followed by Andy winning 9-3, 9-4, 9-3, and picking up Man of the Match for his efforts. Mr Barton continued this winning streak only narrowly losing the first game as his opponent battled back from 5-0 down. Mr Barton eventually got into gear and took the remaining three games in quick succession showing himself to be the squash hardened veteran he truly is. The evening was rounded off with another comfortable 3-0 win by Mr Devey bringing the final score to 12-1.
15 October
Report by Mr Broad
All three teams were in action with excellent wins for the As against Nairn away with fine victories for Andrew T and Fergus R. The Bs had a superb away win against Kinloss. Mori T, James B and Calum M all won matches in which they lost games and yet went on to win. Adel K, playing at one, against a Wing Commander was the only casualty and this was no disgrace against a very good player. The C team lost 6-9 to a very experienced Buckpool side which demonstrated the improvement made by the team of Akshay D, Kabir P, Philip L and Ahmed M.
The build up to the tour to Athens has begun. This will be the first mixed tour and arrangements have been made by two former students, Bob Simpson and Manolis Kokkinaris. They have devised a wonderful programme of squash and cultural activities, including a debate with the British School about whether the British Museum should return the Elgin Marbles (Parthenon Sculptures) to Greece.
14 October
Report by Mr Broad
The A team are unbeaten after three games in the JR Motors league and the B team have also got off to a good start. The overall standard in all three teams is much higher than in the recent past and due reward for some hard work and a very pleasing level of commitment in training.
8 October
Report by Mr Broad
It has been a slow start to the season but the three teams are now catching up on fixtures in Divisions 1 and 2 of the Highlands and Islands League.
This was a remarkable day in Gordonstoun squash: no league match was lost.
The A and B teams were at home to Inverness and Elgin sides. There were victories for Mr Devey and Fergus R and Mr Barton and Andrew T lost narrowly. In the B team Mr McEwan, Mori T and James B all won comfortably. The C team were away to Nairn and drew 6-6 with fine victories from Akshay D and Kabir P but Ahmed M and Philp L lost to experienced players.
This is very encouraging and already excitement is building up for the tour after the end of term to Athens.