THE Hong Kong Squash Rackets Association,
now known as Hong Kong Squash, was founded in 1961. That same
year the Winter Squash League began with 26 teams, including one
from the KCC in 3rd Division. The Club first participated in squash
during the 1962/63 Winter League when 3rd Division was won without
the loss of any matches.
In the 1963/64 season, the team was promoted
to 2nd Division and by 1965/66 season there were KCC teams in
1st and 2nd Divisions. Lacking its own facilities, the Club did
not compete in the League from 1971 to 1975, when the enthusiastic
Ken Woodhouse persuaded the General Committee it would be a good
idea to have a court built. This was done in time to re-enter
the League in 1976/77. With that resurrection, the Squash Section
began to grow again. By the 1979/80 season, the KCC was fielding
three teams, but the single court was proving to be a limiting
factor as the sport was proving to be increasingly popular. The
energetic and persuasive Ken by this time had got the Committee
to agree to build a new complex of four, glass-backed courts,
which were duly opened in November 1980 in the same place they
are today. With this great new facility, the section literally
exploded into life. Perhaps more significantly it made the Club
an attractive choice for top players to join and thus raise the
standard of the teams.
For the 1981/82 season, it was decided
to enter six teams, one of which was a ladies' team. Led energetically
by Agnes Gardner, she moulded a team from many players who had
never played competitive squash. With all the varied social activities,
plus the coaching sessions and junior development programmes,
the popularity of squash was such that for the 1982/83 season,
11 KCC teams entered Winter League, nearly double the previous
year. The end of 1982 saw two former world champion squash players,
Cam Nancarrow and Jonah Barrington, separately visit the Club.
Both held squash clinics demonstrating their skills and imparting
their knowledge and experience - a real bonus for the section
which gave great encouragement to players.
The new facilities also meant that the
Club was able to host Invitation Squash Tournaments that were
used by the Hong Kong Squash Rackets Association to select the
men's and ladies' teams representing Hong Kong in the East Asian
Championships. The 1982/83 season was the one when the KCC announced
it had arrived at the top of the local squash scene - John Walker
led the Men's 1st Team to their first trophy beating the old rivals
Hong Kong Cricket Club in the final of the Knockout Competition.
At international level, Mike Peasley, John Walker and Barbara
Lee were selected to represent Hong Kong in the East Asian Championships
held in Papua New Guinea.
In the following season it was the turn
of the ladies to shine, doing the Double with the 1st Team of
Barbara Lee, Daphne Chan, Eleanor Sackett, Helen Pearson and Agnes
Gardner, winning both the Ladies 1st Division and Knockout Cup.
Walker and Lee were again selected to represent Hong Kong in the
East Asia Championships.
Although the 1984/85 season ended without
a trophy, the Club had no less than four members in the Hong Kong
national team in the 1985 East Asia Championships played in Manila.
The dynamic duo of John Walker and Mike Peasley were joined by
K K Chan and Philip Shaw-Hamilton. That same year saw the section
formally join the Interport matches against the Royal Bangkok
Sports Club, with the teams playing for the Rachael Kathleen Trophy.
In fact this Shield has been played for since 1979, following
a very wet visit by the RBSC in 1978 when none of the traditional
competitions - tennis, cricket, lawn bowls or hockey - were able
to take place. In order to give our guests some activity and to
ensure that however miserable the weather, there would some competition,
Ken Woodhouse and Roger Nissim inaugurated this squash competition,
naming the trophy after their daughters. RBSC won the inaugural
event in 1979 and the Club has held it subsequently for a number
of years. With the growth in popularity of the sport, both Woodhouse
and Nissim agreed in 1985 that the trophy be elevated to a full
Interport played for by the respective squash sections. The competition
has so far been dominated by the KCC.
In 1986/87 the Men's 1st Team ran out the
comfortable winner of 1st Division with a powerful squad of Kent
Li, Mike Peasley, John Walker and Noshir Shroff assisted by Jerry
Chan and Fergus Anstock. During the mid- to late-Eighties, the
section was regularly entering 13 or 14 teams in the Winter League,
of which three or four were ladies' teams. Even if they were not
winning trophies domestically, individual players were regularly
being selected to represent Hong Kong. For the ladies, Peach Grandidge
with 16 caps and Barbara Lee (11 caps) were outstanding while
for the men, Kent Li had 30 caps, John Walker 11 and Mike Peasley
eight, showing the strength the section has achieved over a relatively
short period of time. During this time, annual matches against
Hong Kong Football Club became a regular feature on the calendar.
The Squash Section developed a strong Junior
Development Programme under the guidance of Denis Trimmingham
that bore fruit when the KCC Girls U12 Team was the champion in
the Hong Kong Junior Squash League in both 1990/91 and 1991/92.
There were also boys and girls U15 Teams. It was good to see some
of the older long serving players such as Robin Williams, Herat
Abeyratne and Alan Burge put so much back into the game coaching
these youngsters.
Into the Nineties and the section maintained
its strength and high degree of participation in the local league.
One feature that mirrored the changing age profile at the Club
was the increasing number of Masters teams - three out of 14 or
so teams.
The 1995/96 season saw the top men's side
do the Double. The section also maintained its century-old tradition
of entertaining military sides with the visit of the full British
Forces Squad. The preceding season had seen separate visits by
both the British Army and the Royal Navy, - the RAF having stopped
by in 1992. The section welcomed back Kent Li who was also doing
some junior coaching that was now being organised by Richard Aldridge.
The Squash Section finished the decade
very strongly with the Men's 2nd Team doing the Double three times
in the past four seasons up until 1999, and the Ladies 1st Team
doing their own Double for three consecutive seasons. In May 1999
the British Forces Team made their first post-Handover tour, returning
again in April 2001.
The long-standing annual fixture against
HKFC was now expanded to include a Doubles event and the Club
started off the new millennium by winning both the Singles and
Doubles Matches.
Both the Men's and Ladies' Teams in 1st
Division did exceptionally well in the past three years. The Ladies
1B Team was the Doubles Champion in both the League and play off
series in the 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons, while the Ladies 1A
Team was Double Runners-Up during the same two seasons. The Men's
Team won the League and play off series in the season 2001/02,
but were only able to defend the title in 2002/03.
The overall result for the 2001/2 season
was the best result ever achieved by the Squash Section. Eleven
teams, which included two Master's and two Ladies' Teams, produced
four Doubles Champions (winning both League and play off series),
one Double Runner-Up, one play off Runner-Up and two teams that
reached their respective play off series - an unprecedented strike
rate.
Squash Convener - Aaron Yip
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