Wait and Leith enjoy tournament success at start of junior squash season.
The junior squash season is up and running and 2 tournaments have been held in the first half term of the season. The first tournament held was the Island junior championships with was due to be held earlier in the year but due to Covid-19 pandemic it was postponed. It was a draw of 12 juniors, with a mixture of experienced juniors and juniors who were new to the game. Experienced Leighton Ginty took on tournament debutant Rocco Spencer in the first round, with the latter performing well and taking plenty of points despite loosing the match 2 games to nil. The Semi finals in this tournament were the matches of the day, first up was number 1 seed Olly wait vs Isaac Quayle, with Olly winning in 3 games however Isaac’s ability to keep getting every ball back and force Olly to win the points it was a great spectacle to watch. The second semi final was between good friends Ben Leith and Christian Webster, with both players coming into the match in great form. The match ebed and flowed and both players were pushing each other round the court with a great variety of shots, however Ben played the big points well and managed to seal a 3 games to 1 victory and progress to the final. Olly Wait came into the final as the favourite, however Ben had other ideas and stormed out of the blocks playing aggressive squash and took the first game. After the first game Olly composed himself and managed to control the court better and managed to take the match 3-1 and take another Junior title.
Onto the send tournament of the season which was the Autumn Ranking. There was a draw 16 juniors, in the first round it all went to seeding apart from 1 match between Harrison Callow and Bobby Baxter, with the latter coming out on top and making it into the last 8. Again in the last 8 all matches went to seeding, there was an upset in the semi finals where Isaac Quayle managed play some amazing squash to beat higher seed Christian Webster and progress to the final. In the final he met Ben Leith, with the 2 players usually having a very close match and this no different. The rallies were long and both players played at the top of their game, with Ben just managing to sneak the match in 3 hard games. A special mention to younger players who played in their very first tournaments since the season started and have done fantastic in their matches. So a big well done to Jonas Cruz, Zara Levy, Sebastian Levy and Rocco Spencer.
Overall it has been a great start to the season with some great squash on display, all coaches would like to thank parents and guardians for their support and making sure their children got to the event on time. If there is any Junior who is u19 and currently not playing squash and would like to get involved please contact the Junior Development Officer Patrick Fitzpatrick by email to – patty97@hotmail.co.uk
Some Junior Players are pictured above. Top row – left to right – Callum Larkin, Emma Leith, Ben Leith, Christian Webster, Harvey Douglas and Isaac Quayle. Bottom row – left to right – Cristina Cruz, Jonas Cruz, Rocco Spencer, Zara Levy and Sebastian Levy.