Squash AGM

The 2011 Squash AGM was held on 10 December. I gave a brief round-up of the last year's highlights which included ­unprecedented successes in league and other competitions. We won the Division 7 league and cup titles and were Summer League Division 3 Champions. Our team also triumphed at the annual 6-team Masters Super Sixes tournament held at the Football Club.

It was acknowledged that much of the section's success is due to two factors; the sports membership programme which has provided a boost to our squash teams, and the professional skills, motivation and guidance provided by coach Ilyas Gull. Thanks in large part to Ilyas Gull's efforts, the Club now enjoys a high profile in the local squash fraternity alongside the other major squash-playing clubs such as the Football Club, KCC and LRC. Gull's promotion to Club Sports Development ­Officer was welcomed as an initiative to utilise his talents across the board in the enhancement of sport in the Club.

Kermit Yuen was unanimously voted in as Deputy Squash Convenor for the forthcoming year. Thanks, Kermit.

Annual Dinner

After the AGM, we held our annual dinner by the poolside. Trophies were awarded to the following players for in-house competitions:

Junior Ladies' Club Tournament
Champion: Roshni Hemnani
Runner up: Komal Harjani
Plate Champion: Mira Chainrai
Bowl Champion: Lauisha Budhrani

Most Improved Players
Most Improved Junior Lady: Kirin
Most Improved Young Male Player: Jonathan Lee

Club Championship 2010
Overall Winner: Chung Leung
Winner Division 2: Rajesh Mirapuri
Joint Winners Division 3: Mike Davis, Nishant Sadhwani

Kermit Yuen received the 2010/2011 Outstanding Convenor Award for guiding his team in winning 3 Division titles in one year.

It was good to see so many parents at the dinner giving support to their children.

Club Junior Ladies Champion, Roshni, receiving her winners trophy from Mike Davis		Runner up Komal with Anthony Charter
Plate Champion Mira with Elaine Meigh

Annual Wing Ding Charity Tournament

Each year the USRC fields a team in the Wing Ding charity tournament which was held at the Football Club on 19 November in aid of Operation Santa Claus charities. This year, 14 teams participated.

A charity event played in fancy dress implies that the competition itself is secondary and is not taken too seriously. That is by no means the case. The Wing Ding is probably the most strenuous event in the squash calendar. Each of the 10 players in a team plays the other 13 players at their level consecutively in 3-minute sessions (4 minutes for the No 1 and 2 players). There is no let-up between sessions as players dash from court to court to face the next opponent. Every point scored counts towards the team's tally. The standard of play is very high. The No 1 players are seeded to be of league Division 1 standard. The No 2's of Division 2 standard, and so on. As an example of the talent in display, a recent ex World No 1, Thiery Lincou, was recruited by one of the teams to play at the No 1 spot.

Overall, our USRC team came 3rd out of the 14 teams that participated: 3 of our players, Kermit Yuen, Fung Ngo Long and Wong King Ngo gained the highest number of points at their level.

Ilyas Gull, Quincy Chow and Alex Frankland at the Wing Ding		Dale Hanson all dressed up and ready to go

The USRC team comprised:

Wing Ding Results

Our team raised HK$19,000 for charity which is a commendable effort. Overall, including other sponsorships, the event netted HK$1.1 million for the Operation Santa Claus appeal. Credit for this achievement is very much down to the organiser, Tim Everest, whose enthusiasm and dedication rubs off on everyone involved.

The event is named after Wing Ding, a severely crippled but ever cheerful individual who worked at the Hong Kong Squash Centre for many years but tragically died from his disabilities some 12 years ago.

Masters Super 6s Tournament

A week after the Wing Ding, a few of our Masters (over 40) players were back at the Football Club for the annual Super 6s tournament. A total of 6 teams took part.

The USRC emerged decisive winners of the competition. Our team comprised:

The dinner afterwards was enjoyable and relaxed. Organiser Mike Belbin of the Football Club received a bit of "stick" for announcing that he had inexplicably "lost" the winners cup, and so was unable to present it to us. No one suggested this loss had anything to do with the fact that the Football Club had been beaten on their home turf. Perish the thought.

Our victorious Masters Super 6 team Front Row (L – R): Tong Chi On, Sunil Daswani, Ken Yam Back Row (L – R): Chris Leung, Dale Hanson, Chung Leung

AED Training

A well-attended training session for the use of the AED machine was held at the squash courts on 17 December.

A study in concentration as the use of the AED machine is demonstrated to our players

Winter League 2011

At the halfway point in the Winter League season, three of our teams are currently heading their divisions in Divisions 2, 5 and Masters M3. Well done to all. I am particularly indebted to the team convenors, Joe Wong, Chung Leung, Kermit Yuen, Nick Tilbrook and Chris Burke for their commitment and excellent work for the section.