Hertfordshire secured a memorable weekend double at the 2024 Masters Inter County Championships finals after the county clinched the women’s O40 and O50 titles.
Warwickshire, Cheshire, Surrey and Somerset all earned one title apiece in the finals.
In the O35 category, top seeds Warwickshire took a 4-1 win over No.3 seeds Devon to claim victory.
Despite going 1-0 down to Devon in the first match at the hands of James Snell, wins from Chris Hall, Jason Pike, Howard Lancashire and Rich Rosenthal secured the win for the West Midlands side.
No.3 seeds Cheshire won the O45 category with a dominant 5-0 display over No.4 seeds Norfolk.
The victory included two 3-0 wins from Jon Davies and Paul Chapman, two 3-1 victories for Jon hunter and Dean Finegold and a walkover to secure the O45 title.
Elsewhere, Surrey earned the O55 title with a 3-2 win over No.2 seeds Cheshire.
Surrey’s Shailendra Kumar gave his county the lead, but Cheshire’s Peter Astbury quickly levelled the tie at 1-1.
3-0 wins from Simon Hughes and Peter Ford secured the title for Surrey before the final match of the tie.
In the oldest age category, No.5 seeds Somerset triumphed in the O65 final against No.3 seeds Oxfordshire. Nick Gollaglee and Nev Rimes both won their matches 3-0 to claim the tie, despite a 3-0 win for Oxfordshire’s Robert Morris.
In the women’s O40s, Herfordshire claimed 2-1 wins over Essex, Avon and Oxfordshire to win the category.
Mhairi Gritz won her matches in all three ties, while Joanne Preston won her two matches against Essex and Avon, with Sally Philp taking a 3-0 win against Oxfordshire in the team’s deciding match.
Hertfordshire landed their second title of the day in the women’s O50s category after defeating Wales, Essex, Warwickshire and Yorkshire on their way to the title.
Commenting on the event, tournament organiser Vickie Prow said: “It was great to see a high quality weekend of squash at this year’s Masters Inter Counties.
“A huge thanks to our host clubs Wolverhampton and Stourbridge for helping us stage the event and to everyone who competed or spectated. It’s always great to see old and new faces enjoying our amazing sport and plans are already underway for next year.”