Watts Grabs Finals Position at AON New Zealand Junior Open

Pictured Right – Kaitlyn Watts (Green Racket) vs Anna Hughes (Black Racket) AON New Zealand Junior Open Girls Semi Finals by BeeScene

Jamie Oakley and Scott Galloway have survived tough five setters to get into the finals of the Boys Open whilst top seed Abbie Palmer and third seed Kaitlyn Watts have shown convincing wins to get into the Girls Open final.

Jamie Oakley and Australian Alex Oswald were first on court for the Boys Semi-Finals. The first game saw Oswald play some tight straight shots forcing the error from Oakley. There was a collision in the first game seeing Oswald take an injury break, even though Oakley bought in some structured rallies near the end to pull his way back in it was not enough with Oswald showing more consistency to claim the first game. The second game saw a number of unforced errors by Oakley with Oswald sticking to his strong straight game seeing Oakley trying to force shots with Oakley eventually going down in the second game. Oswald came on looking to seal the match, however Oakley started to show he could match a strong consistent game. Oakley worked Oswald forcing him into a number of errors and disassembled Oswald’s structure and claimed the third game. Game four saw both players use the front of the court well and Oswald started to regain his structure but pressure from Oakley at 10-8 forced Oswald into the tin and sent the game to the fifth. Oakley came out firing in the fifth and never looked back, he was too strong for Oswald putting the shots away and getting Oswald to make the errors eventually sealing the match in a convincing fashion.

The second boy’s semi-final was between Scott Galloway and Finn Trimble. Both players took time to settle into their game and work the other player out. There were structured rallies and with Galloway holding the first game ball, Trimble had to fight hard, but he squeezed the errors from Galloway and eventually Trimble claimed the first game. The second game saw Trimble use some great deception and building some strong consistency in the rallies causing Galloway to have a number of unforced errors and Trimble rounded out the second game. Galloway came out strong in the third game and through some good structuring of his game he forced the errors from Trimble and upped the consistency taking the game. Trimble struggled with Galloway’s strong structure and he was forced out of position on a number of occasions and Galloway managed to level the scores sending it to the fifth. Galloway ended up proving too strong for Trimble moving him around the court, pushing him out of position and Trimble was not able to get enough great shots with Galloway claiming the fifth game and the match to set up the final.

The first Girls Open game was between Abbie Palmer and Anika Jackson. Palmer is looking to get her name on the Girls Open trophy for the second time and Palmer had a strong performance over Jackson. Palmer was reading Jacksons shots and showed her experience in the game putting away some devastatingly powerful shots. Jackson could not manage to get on the front foot and she eventually went down in a tough three setter with Palmer claiming her spot in the final.

The second Girls Open game saw third seed Kaitlyn Watts upset the second seed Anna Hughes. Watts played a powerful game against Hughes where there were long controlled rallies between both players. Hughes struggled to pick up some of Watts shots and with some great turning and placement of the ball by Watts she pushed Hughes to the limit and Hughes wasn’t able to push to convert. Watts has claimed her place in the Girls Open final for the first time and will be looking to test herself against the experience of Palmer.

The Girls Open Final starts at 2pm whilst the Boys Open starts at 3pm at the Whangarei Squash Club.

Full results can be found below. 

Don't forget to check the escitement from Round 1, Round 2 and Quarter Finals

Make sure you check out Day 1 Photos and Day 2 Photos by BeeScene

Results can be found on the Whangarei Squash Club and on iSquash

Girls Open – Quarter Finals

Abbie Palmer (1) bt Anika Jackson (4) - 11/6, 11/6, 11/7

Kaitlyn Watts (3) bt Anna Hughes (2) - 11/7, 11/7, 11/4

Boys Open – Quarter Finals

Jamie Oakley (1) bt Alex Oswald (3/4) - 6/11, 4/11, 11/1, 11/8, 11/3

Scott Galloway (2) bt Finn Trimble (5/8) – 10-12, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-3

Pictured Above - Jamie Oakley (Blue) vs Alex Oswald (Green) AON New Zealand Junior Open Boys Semi Finals by BeeScene