THREE Bounty Squash players – Ben Thornton, Stuart Summers and Jack Lake – took part in the County Closed tournament, sponsored by Pro Kennex, which was held at Winchester Racquets and Fitness Club.

The C-grade title was hotly contested by 16 players and saw Matt Yates come back from match ball down to beat youngster Tom Trott 3-2.

The B-grade saw 18 players play five rounds and the eventual winner was Jamie Wilkinson after a narrow victory over Tim Kirk.

Bounty’s Lake beat the number two seed and in the end came fourth overall.

The over-45 event saw Winchester’s George Kousseff take on and defeat Deklon Moule from Wykeham 3-1.

The match was nip and tuck all the way but the more experienced Kousseff managed to retain his title previously won on the Isle of Wight.

The top event welcomed back reigning champion Alex Phillips as number two seed following a break from top-flight squash.

Based on world rankings, the top seed was Winchester player Rob Downer.

With eight other players from the county teams and leagues, it made the A-grade competition stronger than usual.

The early pool matches had a few surprise results.

Bounty’s Thornton won his pool, as did home player Jon Foster.

The other pool players then fought for their position on the leaderboard.

Callum Arnott from Westridge, Isle of Wight, narrowly beat Bounty’s Summers in a thrilling match. The Bounty man had to settle for sixth spot.

The game went right to the wire, with the islander taking it 11-8 in the fifth set.

The main semi-finals were both tense affairs and both ties went according to the seedings.

After four demanding games, Foster could not muster the strength to capi-talise on a 6-5 lead against Downer.

Thornton dominated many parts of his match, pushing Phillips all the way, but he eventually ran out of steam as his opponent built up an unassailable lead in the final game.

Thornton had to settle for third place in the competition.

The final saw Downer beat Phillips 3-0 in a very entertaining spectacle.

Main sponsor Pro Kennex supplied the prizes and Downer was quick to thank the host club, Winchester Racquets and Fitness, Stitch-a-logo for the shirts, organiser Stuart Summers and all the players for making the event run smoothly.

Special thanks also went to John Titchener and Stan Thornton for their help with marking and assisting.