DURING the last half century, Malvern Squash Club has welcomed many fine players to its courts, no doubt the best of them being the legendary Jonah Barrington, the biggest star of modern world squash for many years.

Barrington led England to a resounding victory over Egypt at the club, and in his wake came Stuart Courtney, the British number two and then Peter Verow, the English champion.

The club now enters the second half of its century with enthusiasm unabated, as shown by the strong entry for the 2005 championships in an age when many larger, plusher clubs have closed.

From an entry, which included several former champions, the final matched old against new, former winner Nigel Long pitted against unknown quantity Rob Davies.

The start gave little indication of what was to come as Nigel went straight into a 5-1 lead, as Rob struggled to get his game together. But then something went wrong, as Nigel's error- strewn squash allowed his opponent to claw his way back into the match until they were level at 5-5 and then, astonishingly, Rob went on to take the game with no further challenge from his opponent.

Suddenly, the old Nigel was back, as he dominated the centre of the court, his sharp early volleys putting Rob under tremendous pressure and unpredictable changes of pace and angle destroying any attempt at accuracy. That was virtually the end of the contest as the former champion romped through the rest of the match to take the title yet again.

RESULTS:

Nigel Long bt Rob Davies 5-9, 9-1, 9-1, 9-1. In the third-place match Kevin Sandercock bt George Leeds 3-1 and in the plate final David Watson bt Steven Gains 3-1.