Scarborough star Ben Squires earns runners-up spot at York & District Open

In an open age competition the 16-year-old was up against some of the area's top amateur players and he more than held his own.

Working his way through the rounds he defeated Dunnington’s Ed Shannon in the semi-final and dropped just one game in all three rounds in doing so.

This set up a final against Dunnington’s Matt Stephenson who has a squash level ranking of 8359 compared with Ben's 4238.

Though Ben was defeated 3-0 it was a great match with both players moving each other around the court.

Experience told in the end and Stephenson's range of shots proved the deciding factor.

A great effort by a great talent who showed he can compete at the top level even at the age of 16.

Scarborough squash coach Lew Marsden was a proud man as were Ben’s parents.

The York and District Winter League concluded for Scarborough Squash Academy in April.

In what proved to be a difficult season for the Scarborough second and third team there is promise for the following year as the number of players able to compete for Scarborough grows.

Scarborough’s third team, set up to give juniors and new members a chance to compete, finished eighth from 10 in Division Five gaining five victories during the season.

Scarborough seconds struggled all season in a very competitive league.

Captain Mark Squires continually had to dig deep to find available players on match nights and this was a telling factor in Division Three.

The team had some close games but lost all 14 matches to finish at the bottom.

The season promised a lot for the first team in Division Two but at the last hurdle they fell short.

With Number One Ben Squires missing for the final run of games the team gave it their all and eventually finished third.

The teams are all looking to strengthen for the 2025/2026 season and any person interested should contact Scarborough Rugby Club on 01723 357740.

Team training takes place each week.