in the inaugural BIAS Educational Squash Tournament.

The three-month tournament, which ended on Sunday, attracted 43 teams comprising one child -- under 13 years of age -- and one adult relative or surrogate parent.

The initial stage was a series of round-robin events played on a handicap basis. The top teams went forward into stage two, a knockout draw, which was played over the weekend and saw the finalists plays five matches.

Matched against fellow national squad member Simons Haworth, Bergl started each game with a four-point advantage and cruised to a 13-point lead in the first game before holding on for a 15-11 win.

Bergl won game two 16-14 and game three 15-3.

Needing one more win to give his team the championship, Hyland defeated Tony Haworth 15-11. Haworth had stepped on the court with a 4-0 lead but was quicly worn down.

In the semi-finals Bergl and Hyland notched a 4-1 victory over Kristan and Bruce Law while Iain and Viv Redford suffered defeat by the same margin against the Haworths.

Bergl and Hyland picked up 4-2 victories in their three previous matches.

BIAS spokesman Robert Pires congratulated all of the players who had competed once a month from October.

The winners pocketed $500 in mutual funds while $300 went to the runners-up and $200 to the losing semi-finalists. Anna Forbes won the $300 prize for the competitors' draw.

Director of squash, Jane Parker, said the club was so thrilled with the response from this event that a special Family Squash session will now take place every Sunday from noon until 2.00 p.m.