English club pro Patrick Foster successfully defended his national squash title in front of a packed house on Saturday night — but it was the outstanding performance by his young Bermudian opponent that really got everybody talking.

Former pro James Stout looks set to claim the local wildcard into this November’s World Open due to be held in Bermuda, after the New York-based youngster surprised everybody by destroying his more-favoured rival Nick Kyme in Friday night’s semi-final, beating the recently-retired, former world number 67 in straight games.

Stout had never come close to beating Kyme in a major competition before, and up to last week, had by common consent never really made the most of his considerable talent.

He lost an absolute humdinger of a final to Foster — another to be once ranked inside the world’s top 70 in his competitive days — going down 11-8 in a titanic decider which had the crowd transfixed.

But virtually everybody present who has followed Stout’s career for the last few years said afterwards that it was the best they had ever seen him play.

Ironically, Stout quit professional squash last year after a stressful and disappointing three-and-a-half-year spell based in Belgium where, as he admitted, he did not make the sort of progress that was originally hoped for.

He has recently taken up a job teaching racquet sports at an exclusive, male-only club in New York and says the drastic improvement in his game might have something to do with the fact that he no longer puts any kind of pressure on himself.

“I had two solid weeks of training in New York before coming down here to play in the National Championships and given that I no longer play professional squash, I really did not have any expectations,” he said.

“I didn’t really feel I had a point to prove coming down here either. I was just looking to play as well as I could and run around and enjoy myself. I flew in on the Tuesday and played two matches on one day, which was good for me in terms of getting used to the court and the conditions, and I went into the game against Nick feeling pretty good about things.

“I really did believe that I could beat him, though I thought I’d probably have to do it in four or five. But to come away with a win in straight games surprised me a little bit.

“I enjoyed the final against Patrick. I was concentrating on trying to dominate the T, stay on my toes and volleying as much as possible — and it seemed to work. It was a shame to lose in five, but I gave him one or two opportunities in the fifth which he took and that was basically the difference.”

Stout now has just under nine months until the World Open, and he wants to prepare as thoroughly as he can — despite the burden of a full-time job.

“Obviously it would be a big honour to play in the World Open and I want to make sure that I’m playing regularly and that I go into it in a position where I can compete for at least the first game and a half! We’ll have to see how it goes.

“But overall I’m very happy with the way I played this week. I’m a lot more relaxed about my squash and I think that made a huge difference. It was tough in Belgium and though I don’t regret the time I spent there — it was the right decision at the time — I certainly have no intention of going back to professional squash.”

As expected, meanwhile, club pro and former Dutch player Denise Sommers swept all before her to claim the Women’s Open title on Saturday night.

Having been unable to play for most of last year after tearing her cruciate ligament, Sommers proved unstoppable on her return, pulverising every opponent she faced in straight games and with the minimum of fuss.

Sommers beat Canadian newcomer Leah Bishop on Saturday night, losing only two points on her way to what could be the first of several national titles.

The championships were sponsored by Fast Forward Freight.