Saltus Grammar School teacher Nick Wiffen walked away with his third Division One title at the Shell Divisional Handicap squash tournament on Saturday, after prevailing in a long, topsy-turvy encounter with the number two seed Sam Stevens.

On a swelteringly hot court, in front of a sizeable crowd, Stevens cruised through the first game, winning it 15-5 as Wiffen made a number of uncharacteristic unforced errors and appeared somewhat sluggish and off the pace.

But the tournament favourite came back strongly in the second, keeping Stevens pinned in the back corners and then dragging him forward with delicate drops, taking the game 15-7.

The third was tight and competitive throughout, with each player clearly beginning to struggle in the humidity. At 14-13, after a long all-court rally, Wiffen flicked a forehand crosscourt into the nick and the game was his.

Although Stevens looked physically spent after the third, he started the fourth strongly and surged into a 10-1 lead, eventually winning the game 15-5.

At 12-all in the fifth, the match could have gone either way.

Two crucial unforced errors from Stevens, however, followed by another crosscourt nick from Wiffen, was enough to secure the win for the defending champion.

"It was an excellent match," said Bermuda's director of squash Ross Triffitt. "It was great to have a final so vigorously contested. To go down to a fifth game at the end of a long week was excellent."

Meanwhile, in the Division Two final, 13-year-old Robert Maycock, arguably Bermuda's most talented junior, triumphed in five closely fought games over Don Mackenzie.

In Division Three, the young Douglas Olson defeated Padraic Browne, again in five games while in Division Four, Guy McPartlin saw off Peter Howley 15-5, 15-13, 15-14.

In the Junior Division, Robert Forbes overcame Laura Robinson in four games.