A dozen property professionals took to the courts of London's Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall this spring to compete in the annual Newmark Squash Tournament.
The competition, back for a third time following its relaunch after Covid, featured Richard Winter Property and The Crown Estate in the main trophy final after six months of competitive group stage matches.
But the contest was over before it began, with Richard Winter Property Search beating The Crown Estate by walkover after the latter was unable to field a full strength team due to unforeseen circumstances.
This prompted the formation of a scratch team, or a "Crown and Friends" squad, with players from other property firms stepping in to ensure the trophy games could take place.
Trophy matches
In the first match of the trophy final, Dominic Curtis of Savills faced off against Richard Winter. Despite not displaying his strongest drop-shot game by his own admission, Curtis won 3-0.
Charles Major of Knight Frank, a previous winner of the main competition when at Savillsm stepped in for The Crown Estate to face off against Neil Laman in the second match.
The battle was an intriguing watch, as both players showed their skills to entertain those in attendance, with fast-paced rallies and the pair putting their bodies on the line.
There was a competitive tension to the match after Laman took a tumble, with both men vying for space in the centre of the court. Nevertheless, the pair played in good spirit, with Major defeating his opponent 3-1.
Matthew Samson was the solo representative for The Crown on the night, facing off against Shailendra Kumar, with both men sporting bright pink racket grips for the main spectacle.
Play was concentrated at the back of the court, with the men exchanging a series of fierce, but controlled backhands. Samson’s lobs proved his strength on the night, with the Crown player making his opponent cover plenty of the court.
He took the first and second matches, before Kumar fought back in the third match, which was finely balanced at 10-10, before the opponents decided on a "next point wins" tie-breaker. Sampson clinched it, winning the head-to-head 3-0.
After celebrating his team's victory by walkover on the night, captain Richard Winter posted on LinkedIn: "Thank you to Newmark UK for organising the 51st National Property Squash Tournament.... [A] big thanks to David Hume, Chris Dennis and Mignonne Dekyem for all their hard work planning and running this years tournament."
Earlier in the evening, another six players took part in the plate competition, with Newmark and Colliers making it to the final, a second year running for the hosts.
Having lost to JLL the previous year, Newmark made no mistake this time, beating Colliers 3-0. The individual ties included a 3-0 victory for Matthew Major, brother of Charles, over George Burkitt and a 3-0 win for Toby Smith over Leigh Rowley. David Hume made it a clean sweep, winning by the same margin against Anna Ridgway.
Chris Dennis, managing partner at Newmark, the tournament sponsors and organisers, told CoStar News: "I am so happy that this competition, which started in the 1970s, continues to run. It has been true for all those years that fierce rivalries on the squash court can precipitate more deals off the court.
"We had an entry of 19 teams for this year’s edition but would welcome more for next year’s, which will start in January. Solicitors, surveyors, agents – any three-player team from a company involved in property can enter."
If you would like to participate in next year's competition, please get in touch with Chris Dennis at chris.dennis@nmrk.com.
