Club professional Patrick Foster won the National Squash Championships for a fifth successive year at the BSRA courts in Devonshire on Saturday night, beating Colin Whitney in three games in a performance described by one observer as one of the best ever seen in Bermuda.

The Digicel 3G+ sponsored tournament, played throughout last week, also saw national team coach and former world ranked player Denise Sommers lift the ladies' title with a 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 victory over relative newcomer in the local game Suzy Stones.

But it was Foster who stole the show with his 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 win over Whitney, who had defeated the Island's former number one Nick Kyme in the semis.

Roger Sherratt, a long-time administrator and player in Bermuda, said he was stunned by the quality of play in the men's final.

"I've been watching and playing squash since the squash club first opened in the 1960s and I've seen literally all of our top players and those from throughout the Caribbean. I would have to say that Patrick's quality of play in the final against Colin was the highest we have ever seen in Bermuda outside, of course, the major pro championships and exhibition tournaments we've held here featuring the world's top professionals.

"Whitney is an excellent player who had knocked out Nick Kyme in the semi-finals, but Patrick's performance was absolutely outstanding.

"His range of strokes, his movement around the court and ability to retrieve almost the impossible; his mix of power and finesse, and his overall sportsmanship were a great example to our junior players, many of whom were in attendance on Saturday cheering him on.

"It was clear that Patrick had been training hard . . . and it showed in his emphatic victory."

In the Ladies Veterans final, Denise Kyme showed she is still a force to be reckoned with as her experience and range of shots were enough to outclass a valiant Kim Morbey in straight games (11-5,11-7, 11-5).

However, the most exciting match of the finals had to be the much-awaited clash in Men's Veterans between Eugene Bothello and Andy McComb.

Bothello won a tough first game 12-10 while McComb took a tight second game 13-11.

The two vets fought for every point in a marathon third game which Bothello won 14-12 but he had no time to rest on his laurels as McComb came back strongly to narrowly win the fourth game 11-9 to even the score and take the match to a decider.

It was Bothello who proved the strongest as he won a close fifth game 12-10.

The tournament saw a total of 112 competitors, the highest ever, with the finals attracting a capacity crowd. It was the third consecutive year that Digicel had come on board as sponsors.

Full tournament results - see Scoreboard, Page 22