Kiwis Take Lead After Day 1

The New Zealand Trans Tasman Team has taken a comprehensive lead after the first day of the Trans-Tasman Series winning the first round 14-4

After a training session early in the morning the ball was dead in Invercargill and the South had shown what kind of weather it really could put on. It seemed like it was going to be tough work for the Kiwis to get any movement on court, the Aussies would be struggling just as hard later that night with the temperatures of Invercargill being something very few of them had experienced before in their lives. 

With a welcome from Squash City to both teams and a gracious welcome to our Australian counterparts the games got underway. New Zealand started off strong and stormed out to a comprehensive lead early on with all the first round games going in our favour. Australia then claimed it's first win in the Under 13 Girls with a tough battle from Ruby Saies against Hayley Hankinson just not being enough to convert and Australia was on the board.

This fired up the Kiwis and they weren't going to let another point drop easily. They managed to take out all the games in the Boys and Girls Under 15's and 17's. There were some hairy moments where another point almost looked like it would go to Australia with Jamie Oakley's epic battle in the Under 17 Boys going to five. There were also some very tense moments throughout Quinn Udy's game as well where it seemed anything could happen. Both boys kept their cool and showed what they could do under pressure for their country.

Australia then came out firing and took another 2 points in the Under 19 Boys. Luke jones struggled against Sam Ejtemai and couldn't seem to find his stride, with Sam on a high from the Australian Junior Open over Easter he had clearly remembered to pack his thermals and used the cold weather to his advantage. Chapman Kutia and Solayman Nowrozi were not going to let their point go easily. After an epic first game it seemed as if anything could happen with the boys exchanging blow for blow. At 2 all it was anyones game but Nowrozi made sure he didn't let Australia fall any further behind in this encounter and claimed the victory.

The Girls Under 19 saw 4 matches to help both sides of the Tasman get some international exposure in preparation for the World Junior Girls to be held later this year. Our Girls showed what they were made of and Australia will be wary if we face them later this year on the international stage. Lauren Clarke had a battle of epic proportions with the first game going down to the wire. Her Australian counterpart Rachel Gibson came back firing in the second game but this just made Lauren even more determined and she came out to find all the best shots on the court winning the third and the fourth comprehensively. The fifth was a nail biting affair but Lauren wasn't able to find the conversion and she went down 13/11 in the fifth. Abbie Palmer and Juee Bhide made sure to make light work of their counterparts but Ellie Epke and Lakeesha Rarere were out for a rematch of their final at the NZ Junior Open. Epke secured the first game but Rarere wasn't going to take this lightly and came out to win the second and the third games . With some sound words from the coaches Epke stepped back on court and showed Rarere why she was the NZ Junior Open Champ taking the fourth and the fifth games. These two are due to face each other later this week in the Oceania Junior Champs and ther is sure to be another battle on court.

The second round will start tonight at Squash City Invercargill at 4pm and there is sure to be some more great games to be had.