Steve Wren added to his already incredible season on the international stage with a victory in the 50+ division at the British Masters Open held Jun 1-5 at Colet’s Health & Fitness Club in Surrey, south-west London, England. Steve was kind enough to provide an amazing personal account of his experience at the tournament. Read and enjoy!
Congratulations Steve!
So, the British Open Masters Champs went better for me than than I could ever imagine…held at the lovely Colet’s Health & Fitness Club in Surrey, south-west London, it was a prized event I had always wanted to test myself in, with the European Masters squash community competing. This was a 5 day event with over 270 players in total, men & women, from 35+ to 80+ in age. My 50+ category had 33 players which meant a match per day if I was to go all the way. Personally, this was a valuable chance to reunite with mates from my past I’d met, such as way back at the 1984 World Junior Squash Champs. And players who made a real impression on the world squash scene in the 80’s/90’s such as England’s Peter Marshall, ex-world ranked #2 pro, who somehow learned to play two-handed on both sides of the court (and still does)…simply incredible, but winningly effective!
My first 2 matches were 3-0 scores, yet I felt nothing was coming easy with these gritty opponents. The sheer anxiety in knowing each match was knockout raised the stakes for all of us, and meant for some frantic squash. Just getting through the 1st round felt like a huge relief. At my quarter-final I was up against the finalist from the British Closed Squash Champs in February, Marc Aldridge. This was a tough draw considering I was seeded 4th, and as it turned out, it was to be tight all the way. I found myself down 1-2 in games and at 9-9 in the 4th I was on the brink of an exit, yet made some good decisions at key moments. Risky, but good, and after winning the 4th I was pumped in the 5th set and found the winners that I needed to come through. I was playing well, and getting better each match. One more point…the referee (bless her) made what I thought was a simple job, difficult. The calls and the rationale confused both Marc and I, some calls were even reversed, yet as we know, accept and proceed. At the end of the match, Marc may have been more irritated than I was, yet I felt it was important to go see our referee, acknowledge and thank her for the difficult job that it turned out to be. Sometimes the Kiwi-Canuck courtesy has to show through…and I’m sure today that it paid dividends by the time that my final match rolled around. Onwards to the semi…
At this time of the quarter-finals, I still had the top 2 seeds in the mix, Fredrik Johnson of Sweden & Peter Gunter of England. Both players had high credentials: defending multiple British Open Masters Champ, European Masters Champ, World Masters Champ, past top 15 player in the world etc. Yet my advantage was that I was aware of their types of styles played, from archived matches kept dark corners of the Internet. I’d come up successfully against Peter in the World Masters some years ago in New Zealand and was confident I could be competitive again with this group. I’d done the training work for 8+ weeks before the tournament that I knew I’d have to count on, so I believed I was as fit or fitter, while most of the players there likely didn’t really know me, or my type of game.
Yet as it happened, both Johnson and Gunter crashed out in their quarter-final matches by 0-3 scores, and the draw had suddenly opened up. But these players who knocked out Johnson and Gunter to move to the semi’s were also of repute, they’d well earned their spots and suddenly the tournament had a new look to it.
The semi-final with Jonathan Foster was perhaps my best match. There were so many crucial stages, and my knee was giving me some problems. But I was fortunately coming though winning most of the tight spots, and the nick was working well for me. At 1-0 in sets and 10-9 to me in the 2nd, I hit a loose backhand drive over my shoulder that Jonathan expected a stroke on, yet was given no let. I guess the ref wanted him to strike it. While they carried on a chat about the rule interpretation causing him to lose this set, I jumped for the door as if the bar had just announced free-beer… 2-0 was a helluva better spot to be in than 1-1. The match continued to stay tight…and when I finally closed it in 4 sets, to reach the final, then the significance of this genuine opportunity was starting to feel real. But it didn’t help a good nights sleep.
In the final on Sunday, my opponent Stephen McLoughlin from England hadn’t dropped a set in his 4 matches leading up to this stage. In his semi, he had soundly removed Eammon Price, a finalist at the World Masters 45+ a few years back, by the score of 3-0. And it was Eammon who in his quarter-final had taken out 2nd seed Gunter, 3-0, who won the European title last Oct. So my plan with Stephen in the final was to win the first set at all costs and hopefully dent his confidence. I’d also noticed that my referee from the quarter-final was again in charge of our match. Oh my, I really hoped she wasn’t going to be a factor in the outcome. At 5-9 in the 1st set to Stephen it wasn’t looking good for me, but with Stephen’s help I rolled off 6 points to take it 11-9. In the 2nd set I felt much more relaxed and enjoyed the moment. I hit a fair number of winners and got him unsettled to take it 11-5 and go up 2-0 in sets. In the 3rd set it was point for point. Winners and errors from us both. It should have been better squash yet there was a lot on the line for us both… At 9-10 to Stephen, I slotted a nick off his serve…crazy shot to play, but I trusted myself. At 10-10 in a long rally I picked up a lucky retrieve that innocently fell into the nick on his backhand and the ball rolled between his feet. He was furious for the bad fortune, but it set me up for match-point. I couldn’t believe I had it in my hand…and it was a slow walk to the box to serve. The last rally had some torrid retrieving, but after a few exchanges, Stephen scuffed a loose straight drive too close to his body that I had to call a let on…and looked to our referee for “who-knows-what?”…yet her decisive call of a penalty stroke to me ended this final match (so perhaps after all, our chat after the quarter-final helped her make this last decision?). Regardless, the Championship was finally over!!
And what an unbelievable feeling after… the support was overwhelming. Especially to have had my London-based Wren cuzzies come and support me court-side, and my wife Helene with me the whole way through each match and each (relatively) subdued day of the tournament…you know how it can be at squash clubs if you’re not playing. As the result sunk in, I had to go outside and run around the Colet’s cricket park…I was singing, yelling, heaving, and in disbelief the whole way. Then after, the celebration upstairs in the club’s lounge bar started. Yep, that part we really enjoyed!!
I’ll do it again, body allowing. The 2017 British Masters Open: who would like to come along? Please do let me know if you are interested and I can keep you advised of the plans for the 2017 event. This prestigious event welcomes an international contingent, and the British masters squash community is most welcoming to new participants.
In the meantime, there is the inaugural “2016 America’s Masters Games” in Vancouver, Aug 27 to Sept 4, where squash will be well supported, and played 2 standout facilities; the beautiful Arbutus Club, & Vancouver Racquets Club. Information and sign-up can be found in the link below:
http://www.americasmastersgames2016.com/sports/all-sports/squash/
To my friends in the Ottawa & Gatineau squash community, I want to thank you for your support before, during and after this British Open Masters Champs. It makes me feel proud to represent our group in these events long way from here, and more-so to bring the title home and the stories to share with you. Cheers all!
