The Borders InterTown Squash Championships lit up Galashiels Squash Club this week, with six teams battling it out for regional bragging rights. And for the first time ever, it was Hawick who walked away with the title.
Defending champions Selkirk came in with the same winning trio as last year — Iain Laing, Iain Gorman and Darren Quinn — and were confident they could go back-to-back. But the competition was fierce, and there was no shortage of drama.
Group stages bring the heat
Group 1 saw Hawick, Peebles and the Rurals face off. The Rurals started strong with a 3–0 win over Peebles, but Hawick weren’t messing around. With club legend Tony Elliot joining forces with Shield champions Del Sharratt and Dan Boshoff, they notched up two 2–1 victories to top the group and book their place in the final.
Over in Group 2, Selkirk had Melrose and Kelso to contend with. It was nip and tuck throughout, but Selkirk always seemed to have the edge in the sudden-death points. Their only slip was when Laing went down 15–9 to Kelso’s Colin Woodward. Still, Selkirk cruised through with five points to set up a mouth-watering final.
A final to remember
The quick-fire format meant mistakes were costly, and the final between Hawick and Selkirk didn’t disappoint. First up, Sharratt edged Quinn 12–10 in a nail-biter — a big result given Quinn had recently had the better of him. Then Boshoff stepped up, keeping his cool at 7–7 to pull away and beat Gorman 11–8.
That left Elliot and Laing to settle it — two multiple club champions going head-to-head. The rallies were intense, but Elliot showed why he’s an eight-time champion, taking it 11–5 and sealing the trophy for Hawick.
History made
“That was hard work — there were no easy games,” Sharratt said afterwards. “We’re proud to bring the title to Hawick.”
With the East of Scotland League season kicking off in a couple of weeks, the InterTown proved the perfect warm-up — and Hawick have set down a serious marker for the months ahead.
