REDBRIDGE JUNIOR OPEN REPORT BY ELLIE HEWES AGED 12
The girls all played excellently with some unexpected wins over the weekend. Knowing that squash is struggling with getting girls to play, it was great to see wins and silverware come back from the majority of the Essex girls our that played over the weekend which included, Redbridge’s Elise Lazarus, Renitha Srindon and Kayleigh Bennett.
Colchester’s Ellie Hewes, Piper Tatum, Elli Barrott and Amy Aspinall plus Connaught’s Paige MCCoy and Chelmsford’s Eleanor White were also joined by Alice Lindsay and Brook Smith. They all played sensationally with those who didn’t bring back silverware at least got a £4 lunch voucher. (A shame about there being no tea-shirts due to a delay).
In the Girls’ U11, we brought back some silverware with Brooke Smith winning the event. Her forehand drive was just too much for the other players. including Lottie Hill from Kent who also played well but she still beat Renitha Srindon from Redbridge who is also improving with her quick agility and speed around the court finishing 4th at the weekend. Well done to both Brooke and Renitha for their brilliant show of squash. Both of them played great squash with huge smiles.
Under-13 winner Ellie Hewes
In the Gu13, we also brought back some silverware and great experience. Ellie Hewes (that’s me left) came first winning against Essex’s Alice Lindsay and then Florie Moir. After not dropping a game, I managed to beat Danni Kalar 2-0 in the final! After losing 2-0 in both of their games and hoping to secure the fifth place in a tight playoff was Kayleigh Bennett against Alice Lindsay. With a great serve from Kayleigh and super drives, it was too much for Alice’s fantastic volleys with Kayleigh tightly winning the 5th place and Alice grabbing 6th which is really good for her first u13 tournament. They all played really well and congratulations to them all.
In the Gu15, we also brought back some more silverware from Piper Tatum who brought some great squash to the weekend beating Lottie Taylor-French 2-0. In the semis Piper beat Chloe Spratt from Herts 2-0 winning 15-13 in the 2nd game then having to play Niah Williams from Herts in the final. Piper played some great drives and retrieved the ball out of the back corners really well/ But in the end to a great day for Piper, Niah edged it 2-0 with her volley-drops an inch above the tin the majority of the time.
We then saw Eleanor White lose to Karishma Bansal from Kent 2-1 but then saw her hit back with a clear head beating Maddy Hill 2-1 with some tight, powerful drives that in the end Maddy just couldn’t cope with. She was now in the semi final against Connaught’s Paige MCCoy. With some very long rallies, Paige just couldn’t cope with Eleanor’s clever thinking of putting her in the back corners and Eleanor won 2-0.
Then there was Elli Barrott and Amy Aspinall who both had tricky draws with Elli having to play Chloe Spratt in the first round who eventually came third. This was good experience though and determined Elli to do well in her plate match against Sarah Scofield who with her powerful drives was just too much for Elli but still enjoyed the weekend supporting others with the Essex Crew.
There was also Amy Aspinall who lost her first round to Piper who with her drives and confidence proved a little to hard for Amy but was ready to fight her place for the plate against Lottie Taylor-French who was again too strong with her drives and touch with those drops still with Amy improving with her powerful drives on both sides!
In the Gu17, Elise entered as her dad was organising it winning all of her matches 2-0 before the final showdown against Amber Marshall. Amber had great length in the back corners and her hard serve with those long rallies just was too little for Elise who was a calm headed girl all weekend with a smile on her face with some great, experienced squash all round with some wowing from the audience along the way as she did a few rollers along the way. She brought back the silverware though from her home club in Redbridge!
Overall it was a great weekend with some fantastic squash showing great talent and promising potential for the future. Thanks to everyone who was a part of the weekend to make it the tournament it was with special thanks to the organisers. It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend!
BOYS’ REPORT BY RICHARD MARTIN (age unknown)
Under-15 finalists Charlie Martin and Harry Kitchens
The Boys U13s was well represented by Essex Kids with Harry Martin and Essex team mate Micheal Tallentire reaching the final. Both boys had played superbly all day and played some great volley drops and length shots but Harrys fitness and canny trickle boasts were just the difference between the two and sealing the win 2-1.
Other Essex players were Zaid Mushtaq, Brandon Higgins, and Max Hyde all playing well in there groups, well done boys!
The U15s wasn’t short of Essex talent either with Travis Tatum, Sujan Srindran, Jamie Carroll all playing well but the top two Essex seeds Charlie Martin and Harry Kitchens powered to the final beating Joe Dawson, Dominc Major and Karim Samir on the way.
The Final was played to a high standard of squash with both boys try to to dominate the pace of the game and the T. Harry had a couple of great cross court nicks and Charlie a couple of Mizuki’s. But Charlie’s patience and kill shots sealed the victory 2-0
