Results so far in the
Canary Wharf Square Mile Challenge

   Shield:     KPMG 3 Smith & Williamson 0
   Plate:       Deloitte ‘B’ 2 FCA/PRA 1
   Cup:         Accenture 2 Credit Suisse ‘B’ 1

Friday 28th March – Grand Final @ High Noon

   PWC v Credit Suisse
      Chris Clark v Ahmed El Refe
      Aqib Kadar v Jonathan Machin
      James Rowland-Clark v Mark Borto

Investec Squash v FCA/PRA
First Round of the Square Mile Squash Competition,
26th November 2013 - Nick Sheppard reports

The Square Mile Squash Competition is an annual knockout tournament for companies operating in the City. Investec has entered a team for the first time this year and were drawn against the combined might of our main regulators the FCA/PRA in the first round.

The FCA/PRA are one of the strongest teams having made it to the final of the event in three of the last four years so this was going to be no easy challenge to overcome them. The date was fixed for 26th November and the venue the luxurious surroundings of the Dolphin Square Fitness Club. Could the newcomers pull it off?

First up on court were the number two players, Neil Raja for Investec and Michael Wardle for the FCA/PRA.

Michael made it to the third round of the world masters in 2012 and is no slouch on court. Against him, Neil was bringing speed, fitness and the mental relaxation that comes from just having been on holiday. From the start it was clear Neil was going to be needing all of this and more as Michael settled to a high tempo game, driving the ball hard to the back of the court. Lots of long rallies ensued and with neither player willing to concede points or space the let calls also started to mount up. Michael was hitting the ball more consistently and took the first game 11-8.

Neil responded, tightening up the quality of his shots and adding a bit more variety as he took the second and third games 13-11, 11-9. By now the match was entering the twilight zone, both players were pretty much out on their feet, somehow keeping the ball in play but not able to take their opportunities to win points.

As the play became more ragged so did the movement and the marker was kept busy adjudicating on interference by both players. Michael stayed just in front to take the fourth game 11-8 and the match headed into the decider. Finally though tiredness took its toll on Michael as a run of unforced errors let Neil take a 5-0 lead, surely this would be enough?

Neil held his nerve and points were traded until he reached four match balls at 10-6 but then it was his turn to hit the wall. Michael clawed his way back to 11-10 and held match ball. By now it was pure stubbornness keeping both players going, Neil saved match ball and then lost the next point cheaply to give Michael his second chance.

Neil saved again and now it was Michaels turn to lose points, Neil finally staggering out the winner 15-13 after over an hour of high quality squash from both players. 1-0 to Investec.

After such a marathon, the next match between the number threes was going to have a hard time matching the intensity. For Investec it was the youngster Alex Hale taking on Ed Harvey for the FCA/PRA.

Ed’s main sport is table tennis and it soon showed with good footwork and reactions taking the first game 11-8 while Alex seemed to have some problems with his radar in finding the bit of the front wall that is in play.

Gradually though Alex’s better racket skills and variety of shot, especially tight into the front of the court, began to tell and once the radar started to function properly he was able to take the next three games comfortably to win both the match and the fixture for Investec. 2-0 Investec.

With the fixture decided it was left to the number 1’s, Nick Sheppard for Investec and Tim Burrell for FCA/PRA to play a dead match.

Tim was the number 2 seed in this years British Open over 35’s and lost in the final. Nick is about to fall into the over 50’s age group and didn’t get to a final at the British Open in this or any other year.

To the independent observer the gap in age, fitness and skill would explain the result however the Investec player was adamant that he was simply playing for the team and avoiding getting injured given that there would be a second round match to play! Tim winning comfortably in three games brought the evening to a conclusion. 2-1 Investec.


Many thanks to the Investec players for pushing themselves to the limit in a good cause. Thanks also go to the FCA/PRA for being thoroughly good opponents and to Dolphin Square Fitness for allowing us to use their courts.

The second round match will be against either Deloitte “A” or Clifford Chance while FCA/PRA will now enter one of the consolation competitions.

Nick Sheppard
  

The DRAW

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“Chase that ball”
Match Summary

Investec beat FCA/PRA 2-1

Nick Sheppard 0-3 Tim Burrell
           3-11, 8-11, 6-11
Neil Raja 3-2 Michael Wardle
           8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 8-11, 15-13
Alex Hale 3-1 Ed Harvey
           8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7

CW2014 TICKETS

The DRAW