Durham and Cleveland under-17 squash players Lee Skinner and Graham Johnson travelled to Preston last weekend for the BNFL Springs Open Tournament.

After winning his round one match, Graham went down in the fifth game after an eight-hour wait between the first and second round. Tournament No.1 seed Skinner (pictuerd) had the benefit of a bye in the first round and a comfortable 3-0 win in round two.

The first match went to five games and at 6-0 down in the final game it looked curtains for the Aycliffe teenager as the nationally ranked Adam Taylor from Yorkshire had the weary Skinner fighting for every point. At 9-9 Taylor served for the match and after a mammoth rally asked the match referee for a stoke point but was awarded a 'no let' instead. This allowed the Oak Leaf No.1 to serve for the match making no mistake the first time. The afternoon's semi-final saw a refreshed Skinner win inside 20 minutes only dropping two points setting up the under-17 final with the lighting quick and very experienced Jonathan Underhill from Nottingham.

After two previous wins over Underhill confidence would have normally been high for a third victory but tiredness from the previous night and mornings energy-sapping quarter-final led to a plan of all out attack to finish the match for a 3-0 win. With Skinner two games up and serving at 8-6 for the match all was going to plan but two controversial decisions allowed Underhill to level at 8-8 after Skinner had again served for the match for a second time. Before composure could be regained Underhill took the third game 10-8 leaving a dejected Skinner lamenting missed opportunities. The fourth game was a replica of the previous with Skinner dominating early and again having match ball twice before a rejuvenated Underhill again took the game 10-8. The boot was on the other foot for the final game with Skinner out on his feet and playing on instinct and Underhill looking by far the stronger at 7-7. Skinner again managed to take the initiative and serve for the match a nailbiting fifth time but again could not kill the final ball. After several brutal rallies Underhill served for the match himself for the first time and after a long rally asked the match referee for a 'let ball' and was awarded a 'stroke' to seal a 110 minute Final victory 9-5, 9-2, 8-10, 8-10, 8-10.

A trophy and cheque for £50 was no consolation for the Durham and Cleveland No.1 who missed out on a golden opportunity to reinforce his No.17 national ranking as the only Durham and Cleveland player in the new September England Squash rankings.

The last four weeks have seen Skinner the only Durham and Cleveland competitor in two tournaments at Manchester at under-17 and 19 age groups and the Prince England Squash Open at Sheffield. Most notable was a third place at the Manchester Open with a 3-0 win over the England No.10 Nick Bradley from Warwickshire. Last week Skinner had an England Squash invitation to compete in the prestigious under-17 Grand Prix held at Birmingham losing only one out of four matches (3-2) to win the Plate Event with 3-0 wins over Avon's Dean Boys as well as England International's Jim Bristow and the former under 15 No.1 Oliver Pet from Sussex. The last two wins deserve particular merit as both players are ranked higher than Skinner in the new September national ranking list. An enormous amount of help has been received for Lee from Great Aycliffe Town Council, Sedgefield Borough Council, Durham County Council and sponsor PRINCE, all of which he is extremely grateful for.

l At the end of the month the Unsquashable Durham and Cleveland County Closed takes place at Nunthope squash club with male and female ages groups from under 11 to under 19s anyone who has not got an entry form and would like to compete should contact Junior County Chairperson Laura Hall on 01642 224444 between 09.00 and 15.00. for an entry into the competition. Generous sponsorship has again been provided by Unsquashable with trophies for all winners and runners up and Unsquashable T-shirts for all competitors.