Reigning champions Redland were beaten by Weston Squash Club in a positive start to the season.

WESTON Squash Club’s A team had a positive start to the season with a 3-2 defeat over last year’s league winners, Redland of Bristol.

The team play in the premier league which is home to world ranked professional players, some of which travel nationally to face the high standards represented at this level.

The Weston team boasts an extremely high portfolio of player experience and credentials that justify why, since entering, the team has never been demoted from the Premier League.

Chris Clare returned to Weston for his third consecutive season. Chris travels from Bristol and in his prime, was world number 23 and has played squash around the globe achieving notable victories over former world number one, Jonathan Power.

Chris was unfortunate to lose to a younger pro, Dan West, whose superior fitness shone in a nail biting 3-2 to start the evening off.

Luke Bishop, from Devon, has played for Weston for three years and is currently a world ranked professional who also represents Devon and Exeter in the national pro league.

Despite a strong start and 100 per cent success record over Roshan Bharos, the Dutch number one and former junior national champion, injury set in early forcing Luke to retire in the second game.

At 0-2 down, Weston needed to ensure they won their final three games to claim victory.

James Hazzard, the team’s only player from Weston, has captained the team since 2009 and been active in recruiting players of this calibre to meet the high standard expected.

James was a British Universities gold medallist representing Loughborough University, continues to play county level for Avon and is the current club champion.

He faced Darran Mabbs, former UK number 20, in a match that would set the scene for the subsequent matches. James’ intense style of play and aggressive on-court attitude defeated Mabb’s 3-1.

Rob Watkins, originally from Weston, but now residing in Wellington, has played for the club on and off for many years. In this time he has represented England over 40s, county level and is a nationally ranked racketball player. Rob defeated his opponent Mark Regan 3-2 to level the match scores at 2-2.

With the match resting on the final pairing, Bristol’s Ian Fudge represented Weston against Frank Maloney of Bristol. In an evenly matched conflict, both players were tied 2-2 with the fate of the match resting upon the decider.

Ian’s precision and fitness overcame his opponents which forced errors resulting in Weston’s overall success.

The club boasts five competitive mixed league teams, two ladies’ teams and a healthy youth set-up, and encourage new members to contact us through the website www.westonsquash.co.uk