Stamina was the name of the game during the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association's latest tournament, writes Matt Westcott.

A new addition to the calendar, the Island Construction Services Lightning Charity Tournament is being held 12 times over this and the coming year with $158 being raised for worthy causes every time the event is staged.

The tournament sees eight players square off against each other over a single night and with seven matches to be played to decide the winner fitness is very definitely key.

The winner is the player with the most points, so it is possible to lose matches and yet still win out at the end of the day.

Cory Powell won the first round of the event, amassing 104 points to Tom Quinn's 101.

"It's two hours of solid squash that they play," said Bermuda's director of squash Ross Triffitt. "Each player puts in $18 and all of that money goes to charity."

The money will go to Windreach, PALS, Children International, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the World Wildlife Fund.

Meanwhile, in the BIAS Educational Squash Tournament, which is also being held at the Middle Road courts, Tommy Sherratt and Robert Maycock are handily placed after round two.

The pair defeated Jordan Amaral and Stephen Smith 12-6 in Group A in one of 12 matches played over the weekend.

"Sherratt and Maycock won all six games for their 12-6 victory," said Triffitt. "They are looking like the favourites for the tournament, but we do have all our top players competing and it is a handicap tournament so anyone who plays well on a given day could win."

The format pits teams of one child and one adult together with the children playing three games against each other and the adults then doing the same.

There are three preliminary rounds and they go through until November 24, with the top 16 teams going on to play in a knockout on January 11 and 12.

"In this preliminary stage they can finish with nine points all, but in the knockout stage the child will actually go on to play the tie-breaker to see who progresses," said Triffitt.