Ladies open winner Flying Officer Brianna Connelly receives her trophy from Wing Commander Rod Smallwood.

THE Air Force caused an upset to win the National Interservice squash competition, run as part of the ADF Squash National Championships at RAAF Base Williamtown from June 28 to July 1.

The interservice teams comprised four men and two women, with the Air Force snatching the trophy from defending champions Army.

As Army were the holders of the trophy, the Air Force and Navy teams had to play off to see which side would meet the favourites in the final.

Navy had to request an extra female player from the Army, but Air Force were too strong and progressed to the decider.

The Army was quietly confident of retaining the trophy, but in a surprise to all, an unexpected win by the Air Force in one match meant the result went down to the total of points for and against, with the underdogs emerging with the trophy in an upset.

A total of 52 players from the Australian Defence Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force took part in the championships.

The tournament was run under a Swiss Draw for the men.

As each match was played, players' rankings were adjusted based on whether they recorded a win or a loss. Depending on where players were ranked at the beginning of the last day, they went on to play-offs in the open, A, B, C or D grades.

Owing to the small number of females competing, a round robin draw was used so all players had the opportunity to play against top competitors and beginners.

A Masters event for both men and women was also conducted, with the men playing a standard knockout draw to reach the two finalists, and the women contesting a seeded draw.

Overall, the Air Force recorded some excellent results across all the divisions.

Flying Officer Brianna Connelly was particularly outstanding, winning the women's open competition over Lieutenant Commander Jan Noonan.

By LCDR Brian Froome