REPORT BY DAVE KITCHENS
A strong line-up of Essex players made their way south to the Exeter Silver at the weekend producing plenty of encouraging results that augers well for the new season.
Kingswood’s Ollie Green (pictured above) was seeded one for the U-13 event and he made his way to the final without dropping a single game. In the tournament decider Ollie played the greatly improving Hassan Khalil, the 3/4 seed, who played a great semi-final taking out Jack Bloomfield, the second seed.
Both lads started a little nervously as you would expect from a big final but settled down and started to test each other to the limit with Ollie winning a tight first game to 8. The second started in the same vein and some fantastic retrieving from Ollie broke Khalil’s spirit , gave him some breathing space in the middle of the game and forced error after error. One of young Ollie’s great strengths
is that he just makes his opponents play one more ball every time, all the time. He won that to 5. Was he going to win this tourney without dropping a single game?
It was not to be, as his opponent got off to a flyer in the third and Ollie could not reel him in. 2-1 Ollie. In the fourth they both started to play some fantastic squash and Ollie stayed disciplined, playing great line and length, taking his chances in clinical fashion when the opportunity presented itself. Neither player was going to give up without leaving it all on court, but Ollie kept his cool winning that game to
7 and the match 3-1.
First Silver title for Ollie – amazing achievement and how many more can he collect this season? Only time will tell.
Joel Braddock (left) was seeded 5/8 and comfortably made his way to his seeded position in the quarter finals, where he came up against Jack Bloomfield the 2 seed. I haven’t seen young Joel play a competitive match for some time but my, Bloomfield certainly knew he was in a match and if he was expecting a coast to the final he was in for a surprise. Joel was taking the ball as early as he could as often as he could, never letting Bloomfield settle into his stride, dropping him off the court, and making few errors. He was the one playing like the two seed. But, somehow, Bloomfield managed to take the first two games 7 and 7 to go two up.
However, with Dad Jon relegated to assistant coach behind none other than Mr Todd – England No 1 U13 player Sam Todd’s Dad in his corner – ( us Dad’s know our place Jon ) , he managed to impart some well placed wisdom and Joel came out in the third all guns – and drop shots – blazing.
He won that to 4, could there be an upset on the cards? It was not to be as the fourth game ebbed and flowed with some tight rallies and great retrieving, but Bloomfield just squeezed out the game to 7 and the match 3-1. Disappointing for Joel, but he has to be proud of his performance. From there, he played two more excellent matches to finish in fifth place. Great effort young man.
The other Essex lad in the draw was Max Hyde, who being unseeded avoided the top seeds, drawing a 9/16 but went down 3-0 in his first match. That put him into the knockout draw where he had a
first round bye. He came up against the younger Bloomfield brother, Harry but was on the losing end 3-0. Good experience for young Max playing at this level of tourney.
Girls U15
Ellii Barrott and Eleanor White
Essex had three representatives in this event, Eleanor White, who was the 5/8 seed, and Amy Aspinall who, after a withdrawal, was promoted to 9/16 seed. Together with Elli Barrott, who must have just missed out on being seeded, but as an unseeded player was drawn against a 9/16 so maybe a chance of an upset.
Eleanor and Amy where given byes into the second round with Eleanor winning her match in 5 tough games to reach her seeded position in the quarter finals. But Amy was in the same quarter as Torrie Malik the 3-4 seed and twice English Champion at U13 which was a tough call for her in her first tourney at this level and went down 3-0.
Torrie was also the next opponent for Eleanor and while she gave a great account of herself, unfortunately it was not enough and she was also beaten 3-0. However, they must not be despondent as it is not often that you get to play the very best players in your respective age groups, as they did and must take away the positives.
Elli went into the knockout plate and had bye’s to the semi-final but was not able to prevail and went down 3-0. She too should be proud of herself, as all three girls should be, that they were in the mix with the best players around in their age group, and gave it all they had. Can’t ask much more than that.
Boys U15
HARRY KITCHENS
The two Essex representatives in this event were Harry Kitchens, seeded 9/16, and Josh Stinson who managed to squeeze into the draw – much to the delight of Mrs Bunn’s – but was unseeded.
Harry was handed a reasonable draw but which would still see him on a collision course with one of the 5/8 seeds in the next round. He played a decent first round match against a lad just outside the seeds to prevail 3-0.
Round two. That was his seeded position, but set him up with the higher ranked ( top 15 ) Panos Liatis, but make no mistake is capable of giving the best in the age group in the country a whole lot of problems, and has wins against top 5 opponents to his name.
Harry started off on fire, right on it and was moving his opponent to the four corners of the court playing with the control and discipline that is being instilled into him by his coach Dave Lazarus, taking his opportunities with confidence and precision. Harry wins to 7 and goes 1 up.
However, Liatis is known for never knowing when he is beaten and this was going to be no different. He came out of the blocks in the second and Harry was always chasing the game, making one or two errors at the wrong time and was three game balls down at 7-10. He held his nerve though, as Liatis didn’t, and snatched that game from the lad’s grasp 12-10. Harry 2-0. An upset maybe ?
Then came the expected comeback as Liatis won the next two to even the score 2-2. The decider was a tense affair with great rallies and tight points, staying neck and neck until the middle of the game when Harry found a run of 3 or 4 great points and closed out to 7 for a fantastic 3-2 win.
That put him into the quarter finals of a Silver for the first time, and gate crashed into the top 8. From there though, in his next three matches, he came up against higher ranked players, the two 3-4 seeds and the winner of the Gloucester U15 Silver earlier in the year, who just had a little too much for him. But a first class effort to finish above his ranking and seeding in 8th place, a real breakthrough for him and a reward for his hard work over the summer. A great start to his season.
JOSH STINSON
The massively improving Josh was handed a tough first round draw in his first tourney at this level, against the previously mentioned Liatis, and after giving a great account of himself at this level went down fighting in three games, which put him into the knockout plate.
The lad has got a great attitude and is always smiling, and was relishing the chance of doing some damage in the knockout plate. In his first match he started with confidence and commitment in his play to go 2 up. However, then things got tough against a handy opponent and it became a match of attrition. His opponent pulled the next two back to level the score at 2-2, and from there Josh’s confidence deserted him somewhat as that game progressed and it ran away from him for him to be handed a tough 3-2 loss.
Young Josh took that hard but I am sure he will learn from it and come back stronger. Overall, on his first outing at Silver level he applied himself well and should be proud of himself.
Girls U17
ALICE GREEN
Our sole representative in this event was Alice Green, seeded 3-4 but stepping up an age group, which is an a testament of her ability. This would set her on a semi-final collision course with the top seeded Jasmine Hutton, who was last season’s English Runner Up at U17 and the previous season’s U15 English Champion.
With Alice, the current English U15 Champion and the previous season’s English and British U13 champion, we were certainly in for a ‘clash of the titans’. And so it proved with both players taking their rightful spots in the semi.
It started off as it would continue, a Titanic battle, with brutal rallies and each girl battling to control the T. The power that Alice demonstrates on court, coupled with deft touch and control when she needs to, was giving Jasmine more trouble than she wanted to handle with long punishing rallies that had the watching audience applauding in approval. First blood Alice to 7, 1-0.
The match followed the same vein, but after two more punishing games Alice found herself down 1-2, but still in it. This young lady never, ever gives up. The fourth started tight, but as it progressed the odd error or two began to creep into Alice’s game. Perhaps she may have became a little fatigued, who wouldn’t have with such a brutal pace, and Hutton closed it out to 6 and the match 3-1.
Alice then , not long after had to play her 3rd / 4th playoff match but was not able to prevail in that one and finished up in 4th place – in the U 17’s ! And, she is still only 14. Puts the result into perspective doesn’t it!
Boys U17
AARON ALLPRESS
We had two representatives in this event, Aaron Allpress who was seeded 2 , and Joe Blackmur coming in at 9/16 seed. For starters, Aaron being one of the top seeds had a bye into the second round
where he would be up against Jack Newey, the 9/16 seed but recently played at England Level in the U15 age group.
This looked a tough match on paper for Aaron and so it proved. For a match of this potential quality it was put on the glass back court at the Devon and Exeter, and started at a ridiculous level with both players testing each other all around the court.
Aaron must surely now be one of the fittest U17 players on the circuit, and it is no surprise that through his training ethic, coupled with his considerable talents and technical ability, he finds himself in the top 10 players in his age group in the country and it was being demonstrated on court.
Great line and length into the corners by both players, playing cat and mouse with each other waiting for the opportunities to present themselves for the winning play. Perhaps it could be said that this is where Newey was gaining dividends, more than Aaron, as the match progressed and as we were taken into the inevitable decider.
The fifth an extremely tight affair and after some brutal rallies and some tough refereeing decisions that didn’t go Aaron’s way, he suffered a tough 3-2 loss being squeezed out 11-9 in the fifth. After such a tough loss, and it was tough for him, that he was determined to finish the highest he could in the draw and after winning his next three matches he did just that at 9th place, in a very tough draw.
But, it is a credit to this young man’s professionalism and the way he carries himself on and off the court that I would not have expected anything else. Trust me there is a lot more to come from Aaron this season.
Joe played a great match in his first round against the Jack Turvey, a strapping lad from Guernsey. Joe made easy work of him and won comfortably in three games. Into the second round and his seeded
position which was a match up against a 5/8 seed Alexander Engstrom.
This was always going to be a tough call for Joe but he applied himself with his usual dogged determination but it was just a bit too much for him to handle and he was on the end of a losing 3-0. And, it was a little tough for Joe from there too, as all the U17 draws are , and he and a tough 4 game loss in his next match going down 1-3, and after a further lost match he was in the playoff for 15th / 16th with a final finishing position of 15th for Joe.
Knowing Joe as I do he will be disappointed with that, but will be the stronger for it next time around. We all know what he is capable of.