County showpiece produces a festival of glorious squash

The Essex Junior Open promised to be an Easter festival of high-quality squash. And after two days of intense competition at the Colchester Garrison, the verdict came through loud and clear: The players delivered the goods in style.

Competition was intense, rivalry fierce and the sportsmanship exemplary as close to a hundred players competed for one of the most prestigious titles in the national squash calendar.

And after a weekend of riveting action, seven players were crowned Essex Junior Champions. But the roll of honour was not the sole domain of the individual winners. It was shared equally by every player who performed superbly on the six pristine courts at the Corporal Budd VC Gymanisium, home of the British Army’s 16th Air Assault Brigade.

Surrey’s Matthew Broadberry (left) came though a punishing five-game battle with Sussex’s Jack Martell to claim the boys’ Under-17 winner’s trophy and a cheque for £250. It was the final match of the tournament and lived up to its star billing thrilling the capacity audience. At the trophy ceremony afterwards, Matthew spoke for all the players when he said:” This has been a superb event, brilliantly organised. I’m deIighted to win the Essex title, it was a real battle against Jack in the final. I hope you all enjoyed it. I certainly did.”

There was double celebration for the Green family from Billericay as brother and sister Alice and Oliver Green both landed titles. Eleven year-old Oliver stepped up to contest the Boys’ Under 13 event and claimed his first-ever victory over number one seed Harry Kitchens winning the final 3-1.

Oliver took a two-game lead with a combination of deft back-hand drops and an intelligent length game. But any thoughts of a three-game whitewash evaporated as Harry re-grouped, upped the tempo and banked the third. The duo exchanged points in the opening exchanges of the fourth before Oliver broke the deadlock with a final push securing the win and prompting a celebratory fist-pump. His first port of call after the win was to say ‘Thank you’ to his coach Paul Selby who had offered advice throughout the final.

Big sister Alice Green also bagged her first win over rival and friend Katie Cox. The girl from Norfolk came into the Essex Open as number one seed with a record that suggested she would be tough to dislodge from the winners’ podium. But Alice is in a rich vein of form having secured the British and English national U-13 titles in the past six months.

And Alice maintained her winning form claiming the girls’ Under-15 title without dropping a single game throughout the tournament,

Suffolk’s Billy Beecroft grabbed the boys’ Under-15 trophy downing Kent’s Jack Mitterer in another high-octane final, and that was more than matched by the boy’s Under-11 final which was a real belter. Harry Martin and Michael Tallentire produced a match that will live long in the memory of all those who witnessed it.

Every point was contested with such athleticism, determination and guile that it was hard to believe the two players were so young. The match went the full distance before Harry clinched it in a fifth-game tie break. The standing ovation and cheers from the crowd spoke volumes.

The girls’ Under-13 final between Ellie Hewes from Colchester and Chelmsford’s Eleanor White produced a glimpse of the future for Essex junior squash. Both players showed a maturity and skill level above their years as they went toe-to-toe in an entertaining encounter which eventually went Ellie’s way.

That formula was repeated in the girls’ Under-11 final where Sophie Wood eventually claimed the spoils over Colchester’s Ruby Hudson. The quality of squash was testament to two players clearly being coached to a high quality.

The trophies were presented to the players by  Lt Colonel (Ret) Stephen Absolon representing the Britsih Army, who kindly consented to Essex Junior Squash playing their first ever tournament at the Colchester Garrison. The venue was stunning, the courts superb and the staff first class all helping make the event such a success.

RESULTS:

Girls Under-11: Winner Sophie Wood; Runner-up Ruby Hudson.

Boys Under-11: Winner Harry Martin, 2nd Michael Tallentire, 3rd Ryan McCoy, 4th Zan Farooqi.

Girls Under-13: Winner Ellie Hewes, Runner-up Eleanor White.

Boys Under-13: Winner Oliver Green, 2nd Harry Kitchens, 3rd Dan Razzaq, 4th Dom Major.

Girls Under-15: Winner Alice Green, Runner-up Katie Cox.

Boys Under-15: Winner Billy Beecroft, 2nd Jack Mitterer, 3rd Joseph Blackmur-Cheque, 4th Cameron Haddow, Plate winner Harry Burr, Plate runner-up Sam McCluskey.

Boys Under-17: Winner Matthew Broadberry, 2nd Jack Martell, 3rd Paul Broadberry, 4th Hamish Gillams. Plate winner George Stammers, Plate runner-up Joshua Scarfe.

Our thanks to Jo Braddock and Paul Selby for providing the photographs for our gallery below. We’ll be adding plenty more in the coming days. If you have any you would like to see, email them to leehorton@gmx.com