DAVID HARRIS reports (in full) from the Devon and Exeter Silver event
Last weekend saw the first silver event of the season take place at the split venue of Devon & Exeter Squash club and Exeter University.
Representatives from Essex were entered into the Girls U13 & U15 Tournaments along with Boys U13, U15 and U19 events.
In the Girls’ U13 tournament Essex were represented by Ellie Hewes (the number 1 seed) and Amy Aspinall (unseeded) who was playing in only her second ever Silver event. In the Girls’ U15 event Essex was represented by 5/8 seed Alice Green.
In the Boys U13 event we had Oliver Green playing in a very strong field of 30 players. In the Boys’ U15 event Harry Kitchens was seeded 9/16 and in the Boys U19 event Will Southworth was our sole representative. Late withdrawals meant the Essex contingent were down by two players.
Friday 29th August 2014
In round one of the Boys’ U13 event, Ollie, seeded 5/8, faced a tricky encounter against Will Cheek simply because of the four hours travelling before his match. Both players looked jaded as they took to court and certainly during the match but the Essex lad held his nerve and composure to take a 3-0 victory 11/4 11/8 11/4 in what could have been problematic first round game.
In the Boys’ U15 event, Harry Kitchens seeded 9/16 had a tough start against Joshua Birch.
Unfortunately bad traffic did not help Harry’s cause and his match was rescheduled for later in the day. A lively encounter saw some good solid rallies from HK as he took the first two games 11/6 11/6. After some encouragement from the watching crowd, Joshua put up a brave fight in the third game taking a massively entertaining game 16/14 with some tenacious volleying. It was obvious that Joshua’s efforts in the third had taken their toll and in the fourth Harry was able to take control and close out the match 11/4 and complete a 3-1 win. This win set up a tough second round match against 3 / 4 seed Jack Newey.
Saturday 30th August 2014
In Round One, Amy got the competition off to a great start only losing out to 5/8 seed Maddy Hill 11/9 8/11 11/13 9/11 in what was a tight and closely fought contest. Number 1 seed, Ellie Hewes received a bye into Round two and was able to sit back and enjoy.
The second round saw Amy gain a bye into round 3 while Ellie defeated 5/8 seed Olivia Besant quite comfortably 11/6 11/4 11/5 to take her place in Round 3.
In the Girls’ U15 tournament Alice Green (seeded 5/8) received a bye in the first round. In the second round she came up against the sister of our Essex Open winner Matt Broadberry, Sarah. Alice made a hugely impressive and comfortable start against the 9/16 seeded player winning in a quick- fire 12 minutes 11/2 11/4 11/2. Waiting for her in the third round was the number two seed Karina Tyma.
These two had met in a tournament at the end of last season in which Alice had impressively triumphed 3/1 in what was a tough encounter. Karina obviously had every intention of turning the tables this time round and was prepared to match Alice’s retrieving and quality of shot point for point. A slightly sluggish and nervous start from Alice saw Karina take the first two games comfortably 5/11 6/11.
The third was a different affair though as the Essex girl started to find a good length to the back corners and with some deceptive drops, took the third game to 9-9. Karina then hit a framed shot to go to match ball before hitting an un-returnable back hand drive that faded into the corner.
In the Boy’s U13 event, Ollie faced a tough day ahead with three matches to play on Saturday and he knew his second round opponent, 9/16 seed Kian Howard, would be no pushover. Having watched Kian in his first round match, OG knew he was in for a tough match but after some good pre-match warm-up and practice, the Essex lad came out firing on all cylinders. Some exquisite shots to Kian’s backhand left Ollie with the opportunity to drop short on numerous occasions and he took nearly every opportunity surging into a 6-0 lead in the first game. Kian closed the gap to 6-4 before Ollie pushed ahead again to win the first game 11-4. He came out for the second full on again and whizzed through 11-2 before rounding out victory with an equally clinical third 11-5.
Harry faced a tough second round match against Jack Newey seeded 3 / 4 and so the match proved to be. Jack push HK deep throughout the first two sets and despite some tremendous returns from the back of the court, JN rushed through the first two games 11/2 11/2. A mini revival by the Essex lad took the 3rd to 6/6 before his opponent reasserted his dominance to win 11/6 and the match 3/0.
In the Boys’ U19 event, William was up against a hugely impressive field of talent headed by Number 1 seed Bradley Masters. Will started his campaign against 5/8 seed Paddy Harrison and immediately knew he was in for a tough ride. As the Essex lad tried to extend the rallies in his first game, Paddy upped the pressure on his opponent forcing him deeper to the back and stretching Will to all four corners of the court.
The first game went to PH 11/6 quickly followed by the second 11/4. Will fought bravely in the third in an attempt to get back into the match, serving at 10/9 for the set but again PH was able to get in front of his opponent and play crucial winning drop shots when it mattered saving game ball and taking the next two to win 12/10 and 3-0.
Ollie’s third Round match was going to push him all the way as he came up against 3 / 4 seed Jack Bloomfield. Having watched his previous match, it appeared Jack’s tactics were to push his opponent deep and finish each rally with some clinical back hand and forehand drops. The majority of his points had come this way in his second Round win over Joshua Ford. Ollie’s tactics were therefore simple, to put Jack to the back of the court and move him away from the centre line and his favourite mid–court drop.
What ensued was a fantastic match with both players moving each other to both back corners as each tried to gain the moral high ground and that centre line. Both players took their turn to dominate the T and play some amazingly accurate drops and boasts. Ollie took the first game11/8; Jack hit back 8/11 in the second; Ollie hit back again in the third winning 12/10; the 4th was the climax of a pulsating match between these two young men.
Trading point for point all the way to 9/,9 Ollie produced two fantastic boasts at the end of two incredibly long rallies to win 11/9 and the match 3/1. Word had spread throughout the club as the match went on such that, at the end of the game, the crowd was three deep in what was a very confined space. Ollie’s win setup a semi-final clash against number two seed Josh Perkins, but more importantly, would guarantee Ollie his highest finish in an U13 silver event.
Back at the the boys’ U15 event, Harry’s third round match and second of the day at the University proved to be just as energetic and strength sapping. Nerves took their toll in the first set in which six foot tall 9-16 seed Lewis Clements claimed 11/5 but HK hit back with some excellent line and length in the second to win 11/7.
LC fought back himself in the third to take the game 11/9 but again Harry came back to snatch a nail biting 4th set 13/11, having saved two match balls at 9/10 and 10/11. In the fifth both players traded point for point until HK opened up a slender lead of 8/6. Sadly a misplaced forehand into the tin signalled the end with Lewis taking the next four points to wrap and a highly entertaining 3-2 win.
Will Southworth’s (right) second round opponent in the U19’s was Nick Ratnarajah who had been beaten in first round by number 1 seed, Bradley Masters. Nick was in no mood to drop any further sets and quickly raced into a 5 point lead and unfortunately for Will, it was a lead he could never recover from eventually losing the first 11/6.
Tables were turned in the second with WS opening up the early lead. As points were traded, WS held on to the lead he had created and won 11/7. This was the story for the rest of this highly entertaining match. Both players trading point for point in long gruelling rallies before Nick finally triumphed 3-1 11/6 7/11 11/9 11/8. A terrific effort from WS in what was a highly quality field. Sadly for Will that was his last match of the tournament as both his third and fourth round opponents withdrew. A disappointing end but with officially a 13th place finish.
In the U13 boys’ semi-final, Ollie faced up against the number 2 seed and good friend Josh Perkins. Parents Lisa and Jo, sitting together in the crowd, were unable to recall any previous encounters between these two boys despite repeatedly playing in the same age category for some years. What was obvious from the outset was that the crowd of 70+ surrounding the show court were in for a great game between these two and they were not disappointed.
Both players pushed each other to the limit with some incredibly long rallies and exceptional kill shots, repeatedly pushing each other to all four corners of the court with some of the retrieving by both players leaving the crowd in rapturous applause. In the end, Ollie’s previous two games of the day caught up with him and Josh triumphed 11/6 11/9 11/7. What will not be forgotten is the smile on OG’s face when he came off court. Having achieved his highest ever placing in a Silver event and exceeded his seeding of 5/8 to potentially 3 / 4, he had the grin of a Cheshire cat.
Sunday 31st August 2014
Waiting for Amy Aspinall was the 5/8 seed of Rebecca Heaslewood. This proved a hugely entertaining match to start the morning with Amy hitting the ball cleanly and accurately on her way to an 11/7 11/9 9/11 11/3 triumph. The smile on Amy’s face knowing she had beaten one of the top seeds, lit up the room for all to see whilst her Lyn’s antics jumping up and around the back of the court during the match, were infectious!
Meanwhile of the main show court, Ellie was taking on the 3/4 seed Bronte Wright. After a comfortable first game in which Ellie won 11/4, Bronte overcame her nerves to put the girl from Essex under more pressure with some good length returns. However, Ellie also upped her game and won the remaining two games 12/10 11/9 putting her into the U13 final where the number two seed, Katie Malliff had already qualified.
In Round 4 of matches, Amy came up against another unseeded player in the 9/10 playoff match. Sadly Amy fell short of her previous efforts and lost out 6/11 5/11 9/11 finishing 10th in her category, which was a tremendous effort and one from which she should take great encouragement.
In the final Ellie (pictured right) started confidently, taking the first game 11/5 but as had happened in the previous round, her opponent grew in confidence as she put the Essex girl under consistent pressure from the very start of the second game. Katie pushed Ellie all the way in this game eventually winning the 9/11 with an exceptionally tight back hand drop.
The third game started fairly evenly until Katie extended her lead from 4/5 to take the 3rd set 5/11. The fourth was a hard fought affair with both girls making good returns and some lovely line and length shots. To her credit, Katie extended Ellie all the way and as the Essex girl started to fade, Katie made the crucial drops at the right time to take the fourth 8/11 and the Girls’ U13 title.
Both girls walked off to rapturous applause from the watching crowd who were witness to a highly entertaining and competitive final from these two young ladies.
In Round 4 of the U15’s, Alice came up against 5/8 seed Kiera Marshall. Having had a good night’s rest and with mind refocused, she made a tremendous return to the court early Sunday morning. Striking the ball more cleanly and accurately than she had all weekend, Alice surged through the first game winning 11/5. Kiera’s attempts to lengthen the rallies in the second set work for a short period before Alice reasserted her dominance to take the second 11/7. The third went much the same way as the first with the Essex girl sending Kiera to all four corners of the court before winning 11/5.
That win setup a 5/6 playoff match which would see Alice either equal her best U15 silver result or go one better to finish 5th.
In Round 5 she came up against Bonnie Butler. There was a little tension in the air as a previous encounter between these two had seen a very tight and niggling match so Alice was keen to assert her game on her opponent. A number of long and controlled rallies saw Alice take the first game 11/7 but from there on in the match was one way as the Essex girl stepped up to take every opportunity to either drop short or send Bonnie into the corners. The final twogame went quickly to Alice 11/3 and 11/2 which gave her a well deserved 3-0 win and 5th place in this Silver event.
Essex’s final involvement with the Boys’ U15 got underway with Harry up against Marcus Tranter. With both players seeded 9/16 a tough match was in prospect and so it proved the case. With MT towering at least 5” over the diminutive Essex lad, you had the feeling that his opponent’s additional reach would always make the difference.
With both players trading point-for-point Harry continually had trouble getting the ball past the outstretched arms of his opponent. Even so, HK continued to battle with his line and length game and caused a few problems continually turning MT in small spaces. Unfortunately, there was always a racket there and despite leading 10-7 in the third set, Harry went down 3-0 9/11 8/11 10/12.
In the 3 / 4 match, Oliver (right) came up against 3 / 4 seed Panos Liatis. Full of confidence from his performances on Saturday, Ollie was keen to exceed his 5/8 ranking and grab third place from Panos. Things started ominously with PL taking a 5-0 lead in the first set while the Essex lad seemed slightly out of sorts compared to Saturday. But his new-found determination soon had him fighting back to 5-3 and 7-5 but a couple of unforced errors and two tight drops handed the first game to Panos 11-5.
Undeterred and with a few words of encouragement, Ollie fought point for point in the second set eventually turning the game around with a cracking forehand winner to level the score 1-1, 11/8. Further encouragement and with confidence now bubbling, Ollie blew Panos away in the third set 11-1 with some exhilarating boasts and mid court drives. A third place finish was now on the cards.
As befitting a 3 / 4 seed, Panos fought back well in the fourth set, serving at 10-9 for the game. But as Ollie’s new found confidence has shown, he is not prepared to let matches slip these days and fought back with three cracking forehand winners to take the match and his first Silver third place finish 3-1, 5/11 11/8 11/1 12/10. A fantastic effort!
In the final match involving an Essex player, Harry took on Simon Priddle seeded 9/16 in the 15/16 place match. Despite a valiant effort from Harry, his previously good line and length game deserted him as Simon picked off one volley after another and repeatedly forced HK into playing shots from the back of the court. He was never out of the game but at the crucial points of each set, Simon always had that little extra, emerging winner of the 15/16 placed match 11/7 11/8 11/7. A tough weekend for this young man.
An excellent weekend of junior squash, there was a strong showing from the Essex contingent and a bright and encouraging start for those present. All bodes well for the remaining 6 Silver events in the 2014/2015 calendar.
Our thanks go out to the Staff and members of the Devon & Exeter Squash club who were as friendly and welcoming as ever and to Harrow for sponsoring the whole event.
The only down side! The 7 hour journey home thanks to a 14 mile tail back on the M4!