CONNAUGHT player Collette Whittington has been working tirelessly over the past 18 months to improve her fitness, touch and technique. With the help of coach Dave Webster she has put in hundreds hours of court time and conditioning as she pushed herself to improve her squash.
That hard work paid off huge dividends on Tuesday when 15-year-old Collette won the Middlesex Open Under-17’s event at Finchley Manor after two days of competitive matches. Collette emerged as the most successful player from the openings day’s round-robin stage booking her place in the final without dropping a single game against Kent’s Lily Taylor-French and Olivia Cater from Middlesex.
That put her into the final against Casey Miller from Cambridgeshire, who also qualified without dropping a game. “Collette took the first game 11-5 and the second 11-4 playing some great squash,” said coach Dave Webster. “She has been working hard at her game and is gradually growing in confidence. The third game became a real test of her resolve as Casey tried to force her way back into the game. But Collette held firm winning 12-10.
“All her extra training paid off brilliantly, and I know she can build on this performance to improve even more. I’m really proud of her.”
Collette is pictured above (left) with team mate Aliza Sheikh who finished runner up in the U-11 girls.
CONNAUGHT RESULTS
Collette Whittington winner U17 girls
Aliza sheikh runner up U11 girls
Yusuf Sheikh 3rd U11 boys
Zaid Mushtaq finalist U13 boys
Brandon Higgins 4th U13 boys
Kayleigh Bennett 3rd U11 girls