Squash Coaching on Sunday afternoon to start soon. Get your name is ASAP.

Go to http://www.gillittssquashclub.co.za

Build your own “APP” with SquashMan.com

I was recently asked why I have not built an APP for the Free Booking System on SquashMan.com.
I replied that it was not necessary as it currently runs on all mobile platforms and computer environments and that a native APP for each device type such as Android, IOS and Windows Phone would not have any real benefit.
To my surprise I was then informed that it was a bit cumbersome to fire up your browser on your phone, navigate to http://www.squashman.com then click on Free Booking System and finally select the relevant club from the list of clubs using the system. Only then could you see who had booked and make a booking of your own if you wanted to. I responded: Why don’t you just make a shortcut? It’s the same as an “APP” in the sense that it will appear as an Icon on the device and immediately take you to the page you would like to see.
This is what I have been doing for years and never thought to myself that others may not know how to do this. Hence the motivation for this documentation.

Download the document below.

IOS – ANDROID – WINDOWS PHONE

Enjoy!

Load Shedding – Durban

Not sure what block your club falls into ?

Check out this map and know for sure !

http://arcg.is/1JkfYKi

Gillitts Squash Club

The new courts at Gillitts are taking shape.

Stephen Coppinger – pillaged from Gary Plumstead’s Facebook page.

A first hand report from the top ranked South African player Stephen Coppinger. What a week in Doha it was for the Men’s World Squash Championships. High drama from start to finish as Ramy Ashour regained the title in a repeat final of the 2012 edition. Few, if any, could have predicted his performance given his recent history of injury and lack of tournament play but; seemingly learning and improving every round he unambiguously declared himself the most remarkable player the sport has ever seen. It was a unique privilege to be able to witness one of the defining matches of the modern era from the courtside. I was fortunate enough to play my own part in the tournament too as I was able to claim 2 of my biggest scalps to date with wins over Daryl Selby and Tarek Momen (World Ranked 11 & 9 respectively) on route to the Quarter Finals. Along with a tricky 2nd round victory over Malaysian Ong Beng Hee last week was my career’s best tournament result so far. It was especially satisfying given the manner of my victories and how close I was to bombing out in the very first round. Match vs Selby: 1st Round Going into the match never having recorded a victory against Daryl in 3 attempts, including last year’s edition of the same tournament, was indeed a little daunting as I had thrown everything I had at him and yet he was still able to emerge on top. This time however, I was armed with a subtle change of strategy and a belief instilled in me by coach: David Palmer. I played 2 and a half perfect games to reach 2-0 & 8-5 ahead, 3 points from upsetting the 8th seed, before it all came crumbling down and I got steamrolled: only winning 3 of the next 20 points for him to level at 2 games all. It took stern words from Palmer urging me to refocus and start the 5th fresh during the interval to get me back on track. The 5th was a fantastic turn around for me as I was able once again to control the coveted ‘T’ position and pounce whenever opportunities presented themselves. Aided by a lucky bounce on the final point of the match I secured my place in the last 32 and one of my best wins. Match vs Momen: Last 16 Tarek Momen is one of the speediest in the business with incredible touch and dexterity at the front of the court. This match was a rematch from the 1st round of the Qatar World Open 2012 where Tarek beat me in a closely fought 5 setter. Before that match I had worked hard with David on a drill specifically aimed at countering Tarek’s strengths, so despite Tarek’s recent assault on the top players my game plan remained the same and I was quick to lock into it this time around. The first 3 games we were joined at the hip with only 2 points separating the victor each game. I was encouraged to win the 3rd game in a draining tie break to give me a 2-1 advantage and put me within striking distance of the finish line. It felt like everything was falling into place too perfectly as I raced to a lead of 8-2, again within 3 points of victory and a shock quarter final place. Once again I watched my lead evaporate and within minutes we were starting the 5th all square. Having escaped the huge momentum shift in my 1st round I tried to focus everything I had once again on quality squash rather than ruing my missed chances of the previous game. Another pointed message from David helped me to a good start in the 5th before Tarek took the initiative to take a 7-4 lead. A few more frantic rallies and loose cross courts from his racquet enabled me to claw back and eek ahead to find myself with 2 match balls. I felt as if I played at least 5 winning shots in that rally alone only to see Tarek absolutely flying around the court desperate to keep the ball in play, it ended in a let and a chance to refocus once more. A cautious rally followed from both, unwilling to give away position or take unnecessary risks before finally and much to my relief Tarek found the tin on a volley drop and the match was mine. Match vs El Shorbagy: Quarter-Finals The next day I was proud of my performance against the current world number 1 Mohamed El Shorbagy as I made him work for every point and never backed down as you so often see after someone has had a great result. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to convert that form into games this time but I hope to be able to use the next couple of months to train hard and give myself a chance at winning matches against players like himself at the top of our sport. My next outing is the Tournament of Champions in the iconic Grand Central Terminal in New York where I have good memories to call upon having also made the Quarter Finals there two years ago. Doha was a great way to finish the year but it only really counts if I can build on that result and mount serious challenges in the New Year. Bring on 2015!!!

Gillitts Squash Champs 2014

The club champs results can be found on the Gillitts Squash Website at

http://www.gillittssquashclub.co.za.

or below at

Club Champs 2014

Gillitts Social Doubles

Greetings all,

Sincerely hope this mail finds you all safely travelled and suitably recovered..!!!  My sincere thanks to you all for your attendance and participation last eve, and for some, excellent effort w.r.t. the theme..!! Rob, hope your drive thru to DBN north was safe and uneventful. Total count for last eve was 20 people playing; great effort for the first round and chances are this will continue to grow during the next 4 rounds. To those copied that were unable to attend, you were missed and we sincerely look forward to your attendance soonest. Excellent effort and attendance from the Gillitts faithful.

In terms of on-court action, well I’m sure everyone had their fill of at least 4 games each with some great matches played. Geraldine, hope the calf injury mends quickly.  Re the all important off-court action, well this continued til about midnight with a certain individual going at the red & green bottles with wild gay abandon…..eeeiiisshhhh.! Thanks to Tomo, there were some interesting items on display for the customary “oh shames” & “oh well done’s”.! I was suitably impressed with the musthavealotofbeers.com team beer guzzling effort, to which I’m sure aided in keeping the ole foe…..ANOREXIA at bay…may the consumption continue…!! Tomo has kindly procured a bottle of aged Johnny Walker Black, with 2 proper glasses which we will raffle at R20 per ticket during the next 4 rounds. I’m sure, as is the norm with the natal squash ballies & bokkies, this will be well supported. Remember to diarize Tuesday 16th December, as this will be the final round for 2014 and our Christmas bash; where again Tomo has procured some interesting items and of course, Peterkins will MC the proceedings..!!

Before closing off, my thanks to you all again, as through the efforts from last eve, we’ve been able to give to the club enough funds for 1 brick already..great effort. For next week Tuesday, there’s a few apologies, however, I’m informed that there will be others making their appearance. Theme will be “lumo”….!! There is still one or 2 of you still to pay the subs and remember, the bar is an honesty bar; totally reliant on you..!! Oh yes, as requested, Dee will have the Ghana apparel & items available for sale at the next 4 rounds; so, shorts, longs, sling bags, shoulder bags and laptop bags all on offer.

In closing, some advise…..a real gem……”when in a state of doubt or afflicted with the coming of age confusion…drink a lot beer; clearly it helps…..” look at Tomo…point made..!!

Adios for now, you all have an awesome day

Luvs, rubs, hugs & tugs to those that need

Rob……the scribe and all round…good oke

Midlands Squash Union

Midlands Squash Union will be having a squash coaching clinic with Steve Coppinger on the 15th August 2014 at Collegians Squash Club in PMB.

2014 SA National Championships

The 2014 SA National Championships are currently underway at the Wanderers SC in Johannesburg.

Listed below are the results from the men’s and women’s sections (day 2).

2nd Round Men (Tuesday)
Steve Coppinger bt Mike Tootill 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (25 min)

Rodney Durbach bt Jimmy Schlebusch 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 (73 min)

Gary Naidoo bt Andrew Martin 13-11, 11-7, 5-11, 14-12 (70 min)

Zuko Kubukeli bt Gary Wheadon 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 12-10 (42 min)

Thoboki Mohohlo bt Nell van der Merwe 11-5, 13-11, 10-12, 11-6 ( 36 min)

Devon Hendrikse bt JP Brits 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (67 min)

Michael Wood bt Chrosto Potgieter 13-11, 11-7, 11-5 (34 min)

Shaun Le Roux bt Kyle Maree 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 ( 27 min)

Round 2 Women (Tuesday)

Siyoli Waters bt Mariska Wiese 11-4, 11-1, 11-0 ( 13 min)

Lume Landman bt Bongi Seroto 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 (26 min)

Karen Schultz bt Judy Usher 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (17 min)

Alex Fuller bt Michelle Kohne 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 (27 min)

Elani Landman bt Mikaila Westmorland 11-2, 11-9, 11-3 (14 min)

Farrah Sterne bt Janita de Villiers 11-3, 11-3, 11-0 (11 min)

Alexa Pienaar bt Janice Harmse 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 (18 min)

Milnay Louw bt Nono Sekhoto 11-2, 11-2, 11-4 (19 min)

Gillitts Squash Club

So Gillitts Squash Club is expanding ……

HELP US BUILD A BETTER CLUB

As some of you are aware, Gillitts Squash Club is looking to build another court and improve our facilities.
To provide the best possible facilities for our club, we would like to offer you the opportunity to be part of this initiative and are offering you the opportunity to purchase your piece of immortality.
We are encouraging all members to purchase a “brick”, to help build the new court and make some changes to the club that we believe will benefit all the members.
This is a once off opportunity for us as a club to make a real difference and we want to create a venue that will serve our members needs well into the foreseeable future.
With sufficient funds we can really make a world class facility on our doorstep, but we will need your contribution to make this happen.
We are asking all the members who are able, to make a donation of R1000.00 to help us fund the building of the new court and improved facilities.
In return for this generous donation, we will immortalize your name via a name plate in the club facilities in a suitable place of honour for all to see and admire. 🙂
Please make your mark forever at Gillitts by taking up this opportunity.
Transfer your donation of R1000.00 into the Gillitts bank account and include your name and the word “NEW” to ensure your spot on the wall forever.
Email me the deposit info of your donation, and your name, and I will post your name on this website also.

Please make an effort to get involved, we only have one chance to build and how much we can do, is up to you! 🙂

Bank details are as follows :

Bank : Standard Bank
Branch : Hillcrest
Code : 045726
A/C No : 250786060

PS. If you are not a member of Gillitts but want to make a donation, this is very welcome too. 🙂