Final has just a silver lining

JERSEY'S strength in depth proved too much for Guernsey in the squash team final. Top Sarnian Chris Simpson maintained his 100% record by beating Mike Hopkins, but by the time he went on court, the match had already been lost.

Karen Dunk was in an identical position but she went on to defeat Ronnie Jubb.

Sam Shields, Dave Merrien and Alison Strobridge were unable to take anything from their rubbers as the Caesareans cruised into an unassailable lead.

Strobridge came closest to turning silver into gold, although the straight games scoreline against Kate Cadigan indicates a different story.

'Alison had a close game, all three games were very tight,' said team manager Peter Bridgeman. 'The match hinged on that rubber.'

Earlier in the day, Simpson had become the first player to beat individual gold medal contender Nicholas Kyme and he did it in some style, inflicting a 9-3, 9-1, 9-5 defeat on the Bermudian in the semi-final.

There were also wins for Dunk and Strobridge as the Sarnians won by three rubbers to two.

Jersey, though, lived up to their billing as favourites in the final.

'I am pleased. If you had said at the start of the tournament ?Would you accept silver??, I would have said ?Yes?' said Bridgeman.

'We knew Jersey and Bermuda were very strong but knew little about the other islands.

'We played a match or two more than Jersey as well, so the players were more tired going into the final.'

The individual competitions began with Shields being knocked out in the first round by Gibraltar's Anthony Brindle, but Simpson, who now looks odds-on for an individual gold, had a bye through to round two.