Steve Dance overcomes a large handicap to win the final of the Handicap Tournament
The 2026 club Handicap Tournament reached the final stage this month. Unlike previous years, when the two finalists were relatively close in standard, this year produced a final between Steve Dance (-7) and James Mortimer (+6). This was mainly down to James’ giant-killing progess to the final, taking several notable scalps along the way, including last year’s winner, Peter Rivers (beat him 3-2 in the 2nd round) and the finalist from two years ago, James Rowson (beat him 3-2 in the 4th round). Steve Dance had a complementary path to the final, often having to be the one to overcome large handicaps, notably Sarah Peddle (overcame -8/+8 in the 1st round) and Sean Massie (overcame -8/+7) in the 4th round.
So the task in the final was familar to both players – Steve had to play a very low mistake game and carefully claw his way back without losing his nerve. James had to produce just enough winning rallies to get him across the line before Steve caught him up. The handicap meant that James needed just 9 winning rallies to take a game, while Steve needed 22!In the 2nd game of the match, James’ game plan was executed perfectly – he got a few points early on and as Steve relentlessly caught him up, played a few brilliant shots to take the game. But in the other three games, Steve played a near-perfect game, careful to make no mistakes and putting the ball into the corners without risking any lower percentage winners; and he ran out the winner 3-1. Game scores were 15-12, 9-15, 15-11, 15-13. It was certainly no spectacle of long rallies, but it did provide plenty of tension – would Steve catch up in time, or would James do what he had been doing all tournament and take down a stronger player.
Last year’s winner, Peter Rivers, was on hand to mark/score the match and present the Championship Cup to Steve. Tournament organiser, Duncan Nightingale, was there to film the action and conduct an after-match interview with both players.
Attention now shifts to the other competitions – for players who only lose one, two or three matches – and the remaining matches in these groups will play out over the nest few days/weeks. This page will be updated when all the results are in.
The Henley Squash Club Handicap Tournament uses handicaps generated by the SquashLevels system, designed to make every match as close as possible, giving every player an equal (in theory) chance of winning the whole tournament and allowing players of all abilities to play each other – players who may never come across each other in regular League matches or in the inter-club teams. The draw is completely random, with one round being drawn at a time with approximately one month between rounds – sort of F.A. Cup fashion!
The full draw of the Handicap Tournament may be seen here.
