Isle of Man Squash held the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash Competition at the NSC last Saturday.

This was the first time the event had been held using a one-day grades format.

Gaylor was a very good squash player and also a very popular person both on and off the courts, so it was nice to remember him by playing this competition.

A total of 23 players entered and were split into five graded groups according to their Isle of Man squash rankings, with each guaranteed to play at least three matches over the course of the day.

Players in E grade were Helen Freer, Ryan Visser, Lee McGoldrick and Jakub Pastula. After all the matches were completed, sole junior Visser emerged victorious after demonstrating how, even at a young age, he can hold his own against adults.

Ryan Visser was the sole junior in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash competition and belied his young years to win the E group. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer
Ryan Visser was the sole junior in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash competition and belied his young years to win the E group. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer (-)

Players in D grade were Aleyn Taggart, Aaron Rumney, Matt Ripley, Jon Gower-Jackson and Lucas Kenyon.

After the last of the matches were played, Rumney and Kenyon remained level on matches won, so the result of their head-to-head decided who won the group, with Rumney just getting the better of Lucas in a very close contest.

Aaron Rumney (centre) narrowly got the better of Lucas Kenyon to win D group in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash Competition. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson (left) and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer
Aaron Rumney (centre) narrowly got the better of Lucas Kenyon to win D group in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash Competition. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson (left) and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer (-)

C group included Harry Douthwaite, Max Birchall, Harrison Callow and Les Callow. Again the group’s winner was decided in the last match between Birchall and Callow, with the former winning 17-15 in the final game.

Max Birchall was the winner of the C group in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash competition. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson (left) and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer
Max Birchall was the winner of the C group in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash competition. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson (left) and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer (-)

B group included Mark Henson, Rob Smith, George Rumney and Mark Stratford. Smith is getting back into squash after a long lay-off because of illness and is getting stronger and fitter each week, therefore he won the group without losing a match.

Rob Smith (centre) continued his return from injury by winning the B group in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash competition. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson (left) and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer
Rob Smith (centre) continued his return from injury by winning the B group in the Steve Gaylor Memorial Squash competition. He's pictured alongside Global Monetary Solutions' Peter Ferguson (left) and Isle of Man Squash's Dave Freer (-)

A group consisted of Ben Peach, Phil Butler, Dave Freer and Richard Creer. All matches were keenly contested and the winner was Peach with a clean sweep of the group.

Isle of Man Squash would like to thank Global Monetary Solutions for the generous sponsorship of the event and for one of their partners, Peter Ferguson, attending and presenting the prizes.

A League

Isle of Man Squash A League leaders Josh’s Jaguars played Crazy Billions and Phil Shaw Vehicles last week and came away with a 3-1 win.

Josh Green, returning at No.1 seed after a rib injury, beat Ashley Sandyford-Sykes 3-0, while Shaun Wyllie had to go to five very close games in his win over Chris Walton.

Lance Wyllie managed to beat Dave Freer 3-0, while Crazy Billions' win came from James Ramsey who had to battle hard to win 3-2 against Michael Fernandes.

Sovereign Trust IoM beat an under-strength Argosy 3-0 as the latter could only field three players. Patick Fitzpatrick, Harvey Douglas and Ben Leith all had 3-0 wins over Paul Barnett, Lyndon Cheetham and Richard Cretney.

Cannell Print played Team Aon and won 3-1. Thom Whiteway, Damien Loughrey and Liam Townsend beat Mason McLarney and Phil Butler 3-0, while Liam Davies secured Aon’s win when just managing to get the better of Ben Peach 13-11 in the fifth game.

B League

B League leaders Racketeers Pioneers beat Alta Arrows 5-0 to stay top. The game of the fixture was between Racketeers’ Dave Johnson and Sarah Simpson in which the latter was 2-1 up in three very close games but Johnson held his nerve to win 3-2.

Racketeers’ Ben Peach beat Michael Fernandes 3-1 in a very hard-fought contest, while Dafydd Lewis defeated Phil Butler 3-0 in a close match.

Marc Taggart beat new boy Mark Arrowsmith 3-0 and Alta’s Emma Leith lost to Fraser Dorling 3-1 but all four games could have gone either way.

CES Sharks beat Allister’s Allstars 5-0 - the latter have struggled to field their strongest team all season but are still managing to fulfil their fixtures by drafting in C League players.

Dave Freer, Dave O’Neill, Greg Ansara and Max Birchill beat George Rumney, Aaron Rumney, Jonathon Gower-Jackson and Aleyn Taggart 3-0, but Mark Stratford was taken to four very close games against a much-improved Amaline Batty.

Outcasts beat Aestheticare Mavericks 4-1 as Liam Davies, Rob Smith and Stuart Highy won 3-0 against Richerd Cretney, Harrison Callow and Elliot Henson.

Peter Ginty had to go to four games to beat Mark Harrop and Aestheticare’s Magnus Lamprecht gave his team their only win with a 3-1 win over Mark Henson.

C League

C League leaders Hansard Racketeers beat Falcons 3-2 to stay top. Falcons’ Greg Ansara beat Mark Harrop 3-0, while Hansard’s Harry Douthwaite beat hard-hitting Vusimbe Zivave 3-1.

Jon Cox of Falcons lost 3-0 to Dave Johnson, while Hansard’s Paul Tilsley beat Glen Stewart 3-0 and Kevin Cretney (Falcons) made it a close-fought match with a win over Daryl Richards.

Dragons won 4-1 against Crazy Jacks Barbershop thanks to Stuart Highy, Andy Dixon and Lucas Kenyon who beat Aleyn Taggart, Matt Ripley and Jonathon Gower-Jackson 3-0, Taggart making a welcome return to squash after an 11-year absence.

Barbershop’s Darren Smith came back from 2-0 down to level the score but Scott Jones used his experience to win in the fifth game, while Tom Barker gave Crazy Jacks their only victory with a five-set win over Ben Arthur.

Island Tyres and Autocare recorded a 4-1 win over Junior Academy thanks to victories wins for Rob Smith, Mark Arrowsmith, Gerrit du Toit and Phil Shaw over Harrison Callow, Robbie Lapsley, Ryan Visser and Jiayue Kang.

Juniors’ only win came from Amaline Batty who beat Mark Stratford in five very close games to overturn a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Stratford in a B league match.