The first Off The Wall Junior Squash tournament took place at Ardleigh Hall near Colchester last weekend attracting a fantastic entry of almost 50 players starting out on their path to squash stardom.
The event was part of an exciting grassroots development programme and showcased new young talent from the ages of under 15 down to under nine level. The youngest player in action was a mere six years of age.Fledgling talent, indeed.
There were plenty of competitive matches, smiles and fair play throughout the day. The local Ardleigh children dominated proceedings, many of whom started squash via Lauren Selby’s successful schools’ programme.
In the girls’ Under 11 category Hannah Morley from Ardleigh stormed home to victory without dropping a game. Her court awareness and athletic ability showed she will be one to watch in the future. Alice Lindsay finished in second place, the Kingswood player displaying some promising squash.
In the girls’ U9 event, Manuela Horscroft and Rebecca Morley met in the final after some competitive early round matches. Both players gave everything but in the end Manuela took home the trophy. The match was played in a terrific spirit and should give both girls plenty of confidence about their game.
Another Ardleigh player, Georgia Smith lifted the Under 13 crown followed closely by Hattie Callen, also from Ardleigh. Georgia used her racket skills and experience in all her matches, a reflection of the hard word she has been putting in. In the Under 15 girls’ category, India Webb and Piper Tatum had a nail biting encounter to decide the spoils. The match was tied at 1-1 and the deciding game see-sawed back and forth, India eventually winning 20-18.
In the boys’ events, Ardleigh had two victors. William Thompson took on Harvey Tyler in the final of the U-15’s where the first game was a relatively quick affair. However, the second game saw Harvey find his rhythm as he secured quite a few points on the board. William, though, kept his cool and won the match 2-0.
The Under 13 competition was strongly contested. In the final, Ardleigh boys Josh Stinson (pictured above) and Travis Tatum produced some highly entertaining squash with Josh proving to have the edge despite Travis’s best efforts.
In the U11 category we had many entries and it came down to a playoff for the top three places between Aidan Cahill, Ruby Mae Hudson and Jacob Drew. Ruby was included in the boys event to make sure her games were extra tough! Aidan, from Lexden Squash Club, eventually powered home to victory without dropping a single game.
Last but not least, the Under 9 category was hotly contested. The boys played some wonderful squash despite the odd tear. Alex Banhidai from Bishop’s Stortford stood head and shoulders above the rest. He showed some tremendous ability which again is promising for the future of Essex Junior Squash.
Our picture gallery below shows coach Lauren Selby with the individual winners.
