Unsquashable

Volume 48, No. 17, Sepetember 21, 2006

GOOD SPORTS: ADF Squash Women’s Open winner SGT Madonna Doyle, left, with runner-up SGT Kim Booth-Collis, and below left, OFFCDT Gavin Wilson in full swing on the court. Photos by LACW Sonja Inderwisch and LAC David Gibbs

AIR Force has continued to assert its dominance on the squash court in a convincing display at the recent ADF squash nationals at RAAF Base Williamtown.

Air Force won the title as inter-Service champions for the fifth consecutive year on August 15–18.

The Air Force team of SGT Daryl Bessell, SGT Peter Gilkes, SGT George Sweeney, LAC Craig Baldwin, FSGT Brett Parker, SGT Madonna Doyle and SGT Melinda Boyd won in a 7–0 annihilation of Army, which had seen off Navy for the right to challenge.

Fifty-six ADF competitors contested the four-day tournament, with more than 400 matches played.

In the women’s open, SGT Madonna Doyle had a hard-fought battle against Army rival SGT Kim Booth-Collis. Doyle lost the first, before powering home for a 3–1 victory.

SGT Daryl Bessell displayed his mastery in the men’s open by defeating PO David White in the semi-finals in an awesome display of skill and fitness, before backing up to beat SGT Peter Gilkes 3–0 in the final. Bessell also took away the Masters title by beating SGT George Sweeney on forfeit.

“The men’s open was the best and toughest I have seen for some time,” SGT Bessell said after the tournament.

“It was the first time I have played in a round-robin open event and it was really tough. Playing 12 matches in the first three days takes a lot of energy out of the body.

“My preparation for the nationals was a strict training program, and dropping 5kg enabled me to sustain a high level of fitness. I believe this was the key to winning the Open and Masters Championships.”

In the graded events, WGCDR Chris Cook beat WGCDR Paul Millett 3–1 in the A-grade.

B-grade was a battle of the ADFA cadets, with OFFCDT Gavin Wilson too strong for his Singapore exchange opponent.

The C-grade title went home with FLTLT Stuart McLean in a 3–0 game, and in the D-grade final, FLGOFF Tim Dresser put in a marathon effort to win 3–2. OFFCDT Matthew Seabrook out-ran his Army opponent to win E-grade 3–2.

Full results and images from the Squash inter-Service championships and information on ADF squash is available on the ADF squash website at http://wlmis001.ear.defence.gov.au/squash.

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