Words by Damian Burgess 20.3.2011
Douglas Kempsell of Scotland and Tesni Evans of Wales won the Boys Under 19 and Girls Under 19 titles respectively in the Welsh Junior Open 2011 at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff on the weekend of the 18th to 20th March with 185 players from all over the World coming to Cardiff for 60 hours of squash at two venues on 10 courts.
In the Girls Under 19 group Tesni Evans won all of her matches to again win the title of Welsh Junior Open Champion. Tesni won last year and this years win was her 10th European title and her 5th Welsh Junior Open title.Tesni said after winning “A great feeling to win again here at the Welsh Junior Open, I will miss playing it I but look forward to playing on the senior tour” It was Tesni’s last Welsh Junior Open as she will turn 19 in October and leave the Junior European Circuit. We would all like to thank Tesni for her hard work as a junior and wish her good luck for both the remainder of her Junior career and for the future on the WISPA Tour.
Tesni beat both her nearest rivals 3 – 0. Rebecca Quiney of England came runner up after first beating Hannah Davies of Wales 3 – 2, 11/8 in the fifth.
In the Boys Under 19 group two Scots topped the seedings; Greg Lobban number 1 seed and Douglas Kempsell number 2 seed. Douglas beat two Welshmen on his way to the final; Nyall Driscoll in a tight quarter final 3 – 2 and Sam Fenwick 3 – 1 in the Semi Final. Kempsell came out on top against fellow Scot Greg Lobban in the final winning 3 – 2 after being 2 – 0 down, a great performance from both players who had tough games earlier on the weekend. After the match Douglas said “Thank you all for a great weekend, it feels great to win here in Wales for the first time, thank you to all the Scotland team for their support and thank you to Greg on a great Final” In the 3/4 playoff Sam Fenwick put his Semi Final loss behind him to beat David Jones of Scotland 3 – 1 and finish above his seeding of 5/8.
The other age groups were also packed with great matches and a great spirit of squash on the courts, there were two venues used for the Competition but that didn’t take away from the atmosphere. Players were playing for positions in every age group, over 600 matches of squash in 3 days.
In the Under 17 Boys last years Under 15 runner up and number 2 seed this year Daniel Poleshchuck of Israel made it to the final and looked in great form. Also in great form was Saad Shahid of Pakistan who beat number 1 seed Lyell Fuller in the semi final 3-2 and 12/10 in the fifth. Daniel Poleschuck came out the winner in the final, again some great squash in a thrilling final, Daniel winning 3 – 2, 11/9 in the fifth. “WOW, a great final. Im glad I won this year after losing in the final last year, it was close again this year and too close in the fifth after having 5 match balls. A great competition and I can’t wait to be back next year, hopefully another final, thank you” Daniel said.
The Girls Under 17 threw up some surprises, Anna Kimberley who was not seeded for the event beat the 3/4 seed Breanne Flynn of Ireland in the first round then 5/8 seed Jenny Haley of Wales in the Quarter Final. In the Semi Final Anna was facing the number 1 seed Hannah Williams of England. Anna won this match 3 – 0; she had not dropped a game all the way to the final. Waiting in the Final was number 2 seed Fiona Murphy who was returning to competitive squash after a short break due to injury and illness. Fiona was pleased to make the final after her spell away. Fiona pushed Anna all the way in the final and the match was decided in the end by a tie breaker in the fifth, Anna coming out on top 3 – 2, 12/10 in the final game.
The Boys Under 15 Final was an all-Irish affair with top seeds David Ryan and Michael Craig making it to the final. Michael Craig the number 2 became champion after beating fellow countryman and number 1 seed David 3 – 1, a great final and a great standard of squash throughout the grade.
There was an all Welsh final in the Girls Under 15. Elin Harlow was seeded 2 for the event and made the final without dropping a game. Lowri Roberts was seeded 3/4 but beat the number 1 seed Kirsty Lobban in the Semi Final to set up the all Welsh Final. Lowri had beaten Elin in the 3rd/4th playoff in the North Wales Open in February but Elin came out on top this time winning 3 – 1, this is Elins second European Title in as many months after winning the French Junior Open in February.
In the Girls Under 13 there was another all Welsh Final between Tyra Beattie and Madison Khan with Tyra winning 3 – 2 11/9 in the fifth game. Ciara Richards of Wales, who beat the number 1 seed Stephanie Ryan in the Quarter Final, came fourth in the event.
The Boys Under 13 was contested between Ido Burstein of Israel and Elliot Morris-Devred of Wales, Elliot had already beaten the number 2 seed Oisin Dunne in the second round. Ido was too strong for Elliot in the final and won 3 – 1, some fantastic rallies in the final and a great effort from both players. Dan Christopher of Wales came fourth in the event.
We also ran an Under 11 competition at this event. In the Girls event Kate Workman and Carys Woodward had a great final, Kate winning 3 – 0 12/10 12/10 11/5. Kate was very pleased with her win and especially happy with thenew strings on her racket. In the Boys Under 11 Roko Voncina of Croatia took the spoils beating Srikar Mummidi in the Final.
What a great competition, all the parents, players, coaches and spectators said how much they enjoyed the weekend and how well they thought the competition was run, a big thank you to all the competition staff from all who were involved.
Well played to all the Juniors who took part, all the parents who attended, the coaches, all the volunteers who helped on the weekend, the referees and all the staff, Mike Workman, Chris Rees, Sue Evans, Shelly Robinson, Damian Burgess, Matthew O’Connor, Gareth Jones, Karen Workman and the Minibus drivers Doug King and Denis Workman. Thank you also to the University of Cardiff and the Sport Wales National Centre and all of their staff and of course a big thank you to the sponsors of the Competition whose continued support is why we can run such a great competition every year. We look forward to seeing you all next year.
Words by Damian Burgess, Press Officer Squash Wales
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