Duffield’s Sue Smith was selected to play for England ladies over 45 in the Masters Home International Championships which were held on 22nd and 23rd May in Aberdeen.
Hosted by Scottish Squash and held at Aberdeen Squash Club, the tournament was absent of the Irish ladies contingency as they were unable to field a womens team unfortunately.
The first match of the day was against Wales, which England won 5-0 after some nail biting matches. Wales werent going out without a fight. The Welsh side were showing a great standard of fitness and determination however Sue and the team remained strong, keen not to drop any points at this early stage.
The decider came down to the afternoon match between old rivals (and most definately old friends) Scotland and England. Scotland were short of a few key players and the teams were fairly even matched. After a strong start, England took an early lead as Sue, Di and Isabelle all had really impressive wins against their opponents who have provided a real challenge in previous encounters.
As England’s number 4, Rachel Woolford, took to the stage, they were confident that the match was all but in the bag. Under that pressure, Rachel certainly didn’t want to drop a match at this stage. Rachel’s match was turbulent at first until her team members were able to re-focus her back on track to win a thrilling 5 setter. The match has been described as one to remember as it fully embodied the wonderful spirit of the international weekenders.
Against all the odds, England did not drop a match! All credit due to Sue and the team.