A record-breaking 60 players will take to the courts on Wednesday night for Orange Squash Club's spring mixed competition.
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Players will be split into six teams of 10 - the biggest field in OSC's history - and ranked in lines according to ability for the weekly matches on the One Strength courts.
The teams will play each other twice across two pool rounds before the top four play semi-finals on Wednesday, November 20, with the decider slated for the following week on Thursday, November 28.
OSC President George Eleftheriou said the growth in numbers continued the sport's recent resurgence in the city.
"It's a great result to have so much interest in the competition," Eleftheriou said.
"About 18 months ago it looked like we might not even have squash courts in Orange, but since Lyle (Davis) took over the centre we have been trying to expand."
"We've kept lots of our regular players and managed to recruit some fresh faces, and there's a great feeling among the players about the sport in Orange."
Eleftheriou said it was especially promising to have so many women in the Wednesday night competition's ranks, with sisters Katie Hailes and Belinda Bunting, Belinda Thurtell, Teresa Mahlo, Robyn Chapman, Yvonne Tracey and Sonya Fitzgerald all flying the flag for their gender.
Pressed to predict the likely champions, Eleftheriou tipped Team 3, citing Morgan Mahlo on line two and Nathan Garton on line four as specials to remain undefeated across the competition's 12 weeks.
He also forecasted promising campaigns for freshly promoted pair Davis (line eight) and Tom Belmonte (line nine), while he indicated Grant Mitchell (line one) and Charlie D'Aquino (line two) would "need to lift" to maintain their current rankings when the next competition is graded.
The top ranked played of each line is: 1 Jesse Keegan, 2 Tim Howarth, 3 Mark Goes, 4 Rod Bevan, 5 Jarrod Collett, 6 Tony Elliot, 7 Brett Mahlo, 8, Kym Knight, 9 Yvonne Tracey, 10 Luke Tester.
Play commences from 5.30pm and spectators are welcome.
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