Members from Galashiels Squash Club teamed up with staff from the BGH and some guests for a charity squash match. The event was for the Friends of the BGH to raise money for a Photo Dynamic Therapy lamp for Skin Cancer patients and over £400 was raised.
The Tournament was straight knock out and there was a plate tournament and a shield tournament for first and second round losers.
In an epic Final, Walkerburn’s Brendan Calaghan of East Sports Club beat Gala’s current Squash Club Champion Andy Gill 11-6, 13-11. It was an awesome display of squash and it could have gone either way. Each time Brendan pulled away Andy fought back and there was some thrilling rallies as each player didn’t want to concede anything to the opponent. After the match Brendan said “It was an intense affair and I had to keep focus and concentration to win, Andy Gill played really well and was a tough opponent”.
In the Plate Tournament, Gala squash Club Captain Del Sharratt won a slightly easier match against Andy Greenfield 11-9, 11-6, and in the Shield tournament final, Top Porter held out 11-7, 11-6 against Steve Brown.
Sandra Henwood, representative of The Friends of the BGH, said “A big thankyou to Gala Squash Club for helping with this, this was an amazing and thoroughly enjoyable event; and a special Thankyou to Del Sharratt for organising the tournament and draw for the occasion. The money raised is an extremely big step to purchasing the PDT Lamp, which is vital in the treatment of skin cancer”.
Main Event 1/4 Fianls:
Brendan Callaghan 2-0 Bill Urquhart; Paul Neery 2-0 Rachel McAleese; Andy Gill 2-0 Ruaridh Kohler; Sandy Morris 2-0 Luis Molero;
Semis:
Callaghan 2-0 Neery; Gill 2-0 Morris; FINAL – Callaghan 2-0 Gill
Plate Tournament 1/4 Final:
Del Sharratt 2-0 John Barrow; Dawn McBrayne 2-0 Darren Quinn; Andy Greenfield 2-1 Vineeth Ravindran; John McLaron 2-0 Simon Watson;
Semis:
Sharratt 2-0 McBrayne; Greenfield 2-0 McLaron; FINAL – Sharratt 2-0 Greenfield
Shield Tournament Semis:
Steve Brown 2-0 Joy Borowska; Tom Porter 2-1 Simon Watson; – FINAL: Porter 2-0 Brown.
