In a first ever, the Championship semi finals were played on the same night, with a crowded balcony. A new pair of shoes for James brightened up the night.
First up, Peter Sykes (4) v James Hall (1) - those are the seedings in brackets - James #1 as defending champion, Pete #4 as an unknown quantity at the time of the draw. A year on, a bit of practice for Pete, and a pause for James to recover from Turf Toe, and maybe this should have been the final (we'll never know).
Pete lunging, but is the ball stuck to James's racket?
Anyway, the first two games to Pete - 9/5 9/5. Both tight fought, with James playing the best squash than he has done since his injury, and with Pete doing nothing too flashy and just enough to edge them. It looked like James would have a tough task to come back.
Then some really good play (and a change of shirt) brought James the third 9/4. Peter looking a bit frustrated - maybe a crack or two showing. James having to push hard, and once showing a slight hesitation on his sore foot. Could he sustain the fightback?
Will it be the flying Scot or the trying harder triathlon man?
Pete's error rate increased, James up to 5/3 lead in the fourth game. Then perhaps the wall was hit. Pete gained a few cheap points, lets and strokes included, and the momentum was enough to extinguish the comeback candle at 9/6. Great squash, and certainly worthy of the billing.
So to David Falconer v Niall Anderson. As is his wont, David went off like a man with a train to catch; Niall started like a man who has had a tiring train journey. The usual sharp backhand drops and aggressive quick reactions put David 9/0 up in no time (or was it still the warm-up?).
David playing without a racket didn't help Niall much.
David carried on the momentum to 4/1 up in the second before Niall started to show his own skills and a run of five points put him back in the match. David, however, still had some of the first game's energy and drive and took the next five points on the bounce to give him a comfortable 2-0 lead.
The third game was a tight contest. Niall determined and pushing hard, went 6/0 then 7/2 up and seemed to be on course for a long drawn out battle - perhaps having drawn the sting from the ageing maestro.
David having none of it took the next few points, and it was Niall briefly out of puff after one gut-wrenching rally. So just a few balls later and David eased into the final 9/7 and will have a little left over in the tank for the next hurdle.
Good luck to both combatants in the final (coming soon to a court near you).