Junior Nationals - Champions found

Due to the power outages affecting Remuera, ALL Sunday matches have been transferred to North Shore.

The power outages that forced early morning play to North Shore Squash Club proved no more than a minor hindrance to the 2014 Junior National Age Group Champs.  Matches were delayed slightly, but thanks to the cooperation of the national squash 'family' the show was able to go on.  Parents and coaches helping on tournament control and with refereeing was a touching and much appreciated show of support, without which the event could have descended into chaos.

The eventual champions did extremely well to hold their focus and perfrom at their peak.  The quality of squash was high, with High Performance Coach Paul Hornsby once again remarking on the obvious quality of coaching throughout the country, which is producing increasing technically sound and physically strong players.

The Most Improved awards went to Kaitlyn Watts and Luke Jones - both of SquashGym Palmerston North.  Watts, at 13, is the country's youngest A Grader.  Her determination and work ethic are a shining example to players of all ages, and if her rapid rate of improvement continues she will be a valuable asset for New Zealand in the years to come.  Jones came through an incredibly tough summer of training towards selection for the New Zealand Junior Boys' team that travelled to the World Junior Championships in Namibia.  His improvement saw him soar up the grading list and achieve selection in the final team of four players.  His fine season was capped with victory in the boys' under 19 national championships.

Also recognised at the prizegiving was retiring National Referee Sandra Tinkler.  Sandra is standing down as a National Referee after 30 years of service to pursue other interests.  Sandra's contribution to the game has been immense over this period.  Besides her service to refereeing (which saw her awarded the Derek Cook Cup for Service to Refereeing on multiple occasions), she is a life member of Squash Wellington, has won the Rob Roche Award for Service to Masters Squash, and has given up a good deal of time in various committee, selection and coaching roles.  Thank you for your service Sandra.

Boys' under 11

(1) Mason Smales bt (3) Apa Fatialofa 15-11 15-12 15-8

Girls' under 11

(4) Natalie Sayes bt (3) Manaia Jade Pene 15-9 12-15 5-15 15-7 15-9

Boys' under 13

(2) Elijah Thomas bt (4) Kobe Fleming 15-13 15-8 15-9

Girls' under 13

(1) Anika Jackson bt (2) Annaleise Faint 15-8 15-2 15-7

Boys' under 15

(1) Matthew Lucente bt (3) Sean Dykes 15-7 15-12 15-9

Girls' under 15

(2) Nadia Hubbard bt (4) Zoe Dykzeul 15-8 15-9 15-9

Boys' under 17

(1) Jamie Oakley bt (2) Alex Revington 15-13 15-8 5-15 15-13

Girls' under 17

(1) Abbie Palmer bt (2) Camden Te Kani-McQueen 15-2 15-3 15-5

Boys' under 19

(3) Luke Jones bt (4) Chapman Kutia 11-5 11-5 3-11 11-5

Girls' under 19

(1) Ellie Epke bt (2) Hayley Hughes 11-7 11-4 12-10