World Junior Girls Team Pool Play Complete

After three days of pool play the New Zealand Junior Girls Team at the World Junior Girls Team Event in Eindhoven Netherlands have made their way to the top 8. 

On Friday sixth seeds New Zealand went up aginst 11th seeds France. The three matches took a total of 3 hours on court. Juee Bhide played one of her best matches of the tournament winning the first 2 games playing very controlled, accurate and thinking squash. In the 3rd and 4th games the French player Laura Paquemar was able to catch Juee with some deceptive boasts and volley drops unsettling her. The fifth saw Juee regain some control but she wasn't able to clinch the win. The match lasted 1 hour 5 mins. Abbie Palmer was up next against Julie Rossignol of France. These two players tussled the whole way through and a gutsy effort from Abbie saw her take the win in a tough fought five setter. Ellie Epke faced Laura Gamblin and after some errors in the first match Epke cut these back and got the win in 4. 

Next up New Zealand faced 17/18th seeds Zimbabwe. The games were over almost as fast as they had begun with just over half an hour being spent on court. Ellie Epke took out Carley Barton in 13mins. Juee Bhide managed to get two 11-0 over her opponent Shannon O'Donovan giving her 1 point in the entire match and spending 9minutes on court. Nadia Hubbard played Kuzivakwashe Madungwe and spent a mere 12 minutes on court finding strong strides in her match play. 

Saturday morning saw the girls having a rest before their game later that day against the third seeds England. This was always going to be a tough battle for the girls but they put their hearts on the line and left everything on court. Unfortunately they couldn't manage to pull off an upset and they all went down in hard fought three setters. 

Sunday morning saw the girls last round of pool play against 13/16th seeds Belgium. Ellie Epke had the biggest battle of the day against Tinne Gilis. With the girls trading game for game in the fifth it seemed as if it could go either way with both girls fighting hard and the game going long. Unfortunately Epke couldn't manage to pull off the win going down 16-14 in the fifth. Abbie Palmer and Juee Bhide had much more comfortable wins over their opponents both winning in three and Bhide taking her third 11-0 win of the tournament. 

Next up was the first round of the top 8. The girls came up against fifth seeds Malaysia. This was always going to be a tough battle with both teams vying for a place in the top 4. The girls threw everything they had into these matches. Ellie Epke played Sivasangari Subramaniam and after taking the first 2 games Epke's Malaysian counterpart fought back hard in the third and the fourth to level the playing field at 2 all. The players then fought it out point for point in the fifth. With some tense moments in the crowd and the fifth game going long Epke managed to clinch the match in an epic 14-12 fifth game. Abbie Palmer played Andrea Jia Qi Lee. Lee managed to claim the first game but Palmer found her stride and took the second and third game to gain the lead. Lee fought back in the fourth and again the scores were levelled for New Zealand at 2-2. Palmer and Lee went point for point in the fifth as well but unfortunately this time the game didn't go New Zealands way and Palmer went down in a tough five setter. Juee Bhide put up a strong battle against Zoe Foo Yuk Han but unfortunately she couldn't match Han on the court going down in a valiant three. 

New Zealand will now go into the 5/8 playoffs and have 7th seeds India. Good luck girls!

A full blog of each day can be found here and will be updated as we hear from everyone over there.

Photos from the event can be found here and on our Facebook page here

The Draws for the Teams event and results can be found here

Round 1 - France vs New Zealand (1-2)

Laura Gamblin vs Ellie Epke - 11-8, 3-11, 6-11, 7-11 - 32mins

Julie Rossignol vs Abbie Palmer - 10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11 - 54mins

Laura Paquemar vs Juee Bhide - 8-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 - 1hr 5mins

Round 2 - Zimbabwe vs New Zealand (0-3)

Carley Barton vs Ellie Epke - 3-11, 4-11, 4-11 - 13mins

Shannon O'Donovan vs Juee Bhide - 1-11, 0-11, 0-11 - 9 mins

Kuzivakwashe Madungwe vs Nadia Hubbard - 0-11, 3-11, 2-11 - 12mins

Round 3 - England vs New Zealand (3-0)

Georgina Kennedy vs Ellie Epke - 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 - 18mins

Amelia Henley vs Abbie Palmer - 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 - 19mins

Lucy Beecroft vs Juee Bhide - 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 - 22mins

Round 4 - BYE

Round 5 - Belgium vs New Zealand (1-2)

Tinne Gilis vs Ellie Epke - 2-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 16-14 - 50mins

Kato Verwilt vs Abbie Palmer - 6-11, 3-11, 2-11 - 13mins

Anouk Feys vs Juee Bhide - 4-11, 0-11, 4-11 - 17mins

Top 8 Round 1 - Malaysia vs New Zealand (2-1)

Sivasangari Subramaniam vs Ellie Epke - 9-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-8, 12-14 - 46mins

Andrea Jia Qi Lee vs Abbie Palmer - 11-6, 8-11, 10-12, 11-4, 14-12 - 59mins

Zoe Foo Yuk Han vs Juee Bhide - 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 - 24mins