Noah Browne and Susie Howells were crowned winners at the Bermuda Squash Championships on Friday night.

In the best-of-five men’s final, Brown floored Anaya Smith 3-0, while Howells dispatched Joann Bielby by the same scoreline to win her first club championship title.

Top seed Browne, 30, used his vast experience and height against 22-year-old Smith, winning the first two games by identical scores of 11-8 before sealing victory with an 11-2 victory in the third.

“My win is an affirmation that I'm still able to play well,’’ Browne said.

“It feels good to know that even though I'm working in the office, I can still get up and play some good squash. It’s a good reminder that I do love the game, and it is very fun to play.

“I’ve played Anaya a couple of times before, and he’s a great talent, an up-and-coming player. I’ve always had a lot of time for him and he’s going to be even a better player than he was in this final.

“It was a question of experience and I never felt nervous. A lot of that is a function of the amount of times I’ve played on this court in the finals. I haven’t won them all, but I’ve won enough of them to get it done.

“I felt good in the final, a lot better than I did in the semi-final, and I think it showed. I felt more positive, which allowed me to play better.

“I'm now looking forward to the nationals in spring and we often host a professional tournament here, so I'm hoping that I’ll get a chance to play. I’m excited to get back to training a little bit, get in even better shape than I am now, and keep improving.”

Howells, 39, making a return to the club championships for the first time since 2016, was thrilled to win her first title.

“It’s really great to finally take the trophy home,’’ she said. “Joann played an amazing match and it was a really tough game. She has some amazing drop shots so I was doing a lot of work out there and the scoreline does not really reflect how hard I had to work as I was doing a lot of running.

“Joann’s very tricky to play and she has a lot of experience, so I was just really happy to win in the end. My depth on the court won it for me and I managed to get the ball past her a few times.

“It was a really good tournament and I did play against the men as well. I didn’t win any match there, but I really enjoyed the challenge. There were some really fun games and I learnt a lot from playing against the guys.

“I played four matches against the men, it’s a start and then next year I’m coming for more. That’s certainly going to improve my game as it’s a lot quicker than the women.

“I'm looking forward to the nationals in March and I’ll start preparing early to play as many matches as I can. I’ve to work on my fitness and I missed the nationals this year because of injury.”

Before losing to Howells, Bielby defeated Shannon Mann 11-3, 11-1, 5-11, 11-4 to win the women’s over-40 competition.

There was an exhilarating final to the men’s over-40 competition with top seed John Fletcher defeating No 2 seed Anthony Fellowes 3-2.

The 52-year-old Fletcher took the first game 11-7, only for Fellowes, who is ten years younger, to win the second 11-8. Fletcher took the third 11-6 but Fellowes again fought back to win the fourth 11-6 before Fletcher took the decisive fifth game 11-7.

“It was a really tough game,’’ Fletcher said. “I play against Anthony quite regularly and we always play a lot of tough games, so it was no surprise that the final could have gone either way.

“Watching the men’s open final, those guys play at a different level, so I'm quite happy to play in the over 40s. They've got some really good over 40s at the club and it’s really competitive. That’s where I belong, my open days are gone.”

One of Bermuda’s most promising players, Mason Smith, won the junior gold, courtesy of a 3-0 win over George Qureshi. Smith, 10, who is preparing for next year’s Canadian Junior Open, outfoxed Qureshi 11-9, 11-9, 11-4.

“It really feels good and it’s my second time winning this,’’ Smith said. “I'm getting better and better, making a lot of progress. The final was good, that was a tough match, but I won 3-0.”

Micah Franklin, the Bermuda Squash Association’s director of squash, highlighted the importance of the club championships.

“The club championships shouldn't be about having a title sponsor, or a corporate sponsor,’’ he said.

“It really should be about what the membership brings to the club. This is the only tournament that requires you to be a member of the BSA.”