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Sports Park
Snippets
from Steve Cubbins
G15 Quarter Finals,
Lucy Beecroft bt Alison Thomson
11/1, 11/7, 11/1
Amelia Henley bt Rhianne O'Donnell 13/11, 11/4, 11/9 (23m)
Georgina Kennedy bt Katie Wilson 11/9, 13/11, 11/9 (25m)
Lily Taylor bt Kip Quiney
14/12, 11/5, 11/6 (21m)
B15 Quarter-Finals:
George Parker bt James Blyth
11/3, 11/9, 11/6 (20m)
Jack Cooper bt Tom Kirby
11/1, 11/8, 11/3 (17m)
James Peach bt Patrick Rooney 11/6, 11/1, 11/12,
11/6
Adam Turner bt Bradley Masters 11/2, 14/12, 11/5
(27m)
G19 Quarter Finals,
Emily Whitlock bt Sam Ward
11/1, 11/3, 11/3 (16m)
Rebecca Quiney bt Lauren Tamilla 11/4,11/8,6/11, 11/7 (38m)
Lucy Townley bt Sophie Lemom 11/7, 11/7, 7/11, 11/8 (38m)
Katie Smith bt Jemma Ockwell
12/10, 11/9, 11/7 (27m)
B19 Quarter Finals,
Nathan Lake bt Nick Mulvey
11/1, 11/5, 11/6 (34m)
James Earles bt Adam Auckland
11/4, 11/6, 11/5 (30m)
Nick Hopcroft bt Robert Downer 8/11, 9/11, 11/6, 11/5 (57m)
Declan James bt Tom Ford
8/11, 11/7, 11/4, 11/9 (39m)
Katie 'must do better' ...
The first two quarter-finals of the day were both Girls U19, both
brought forward to allow for extra-curricular activities later in
the day.
 Second
seed Katie Smith didn't look her usual assured self against
Gemma Ockwell, and could easily have lost either of the first two
games before asserting in the second half of the third to take the
win.
"I was a bit nervous," the Yorkshire girl admitted, "I saw Gemma
play really well yesterday so I knew it would be tough. Once I got
on court I never thought I would lose, but I didn't play well - I
did what I had to do but it could be a lot better!"
That match was like a chess game, each player trying to outmanoeuvre
the other, while on the adjacent court Lucy Townley and
Sophie Lemom were locked in a different sort of battle where pace
and power were the key.
In the end it was Townley's ability to find crisper winners that won
the day as she ran out a 3/1 winner.
Thomson & Beecroft Henley ousts
O'Donnell
 We
wrongly reported yesterday that Girls U15 3/4 seed Rhiane O'Donnell
had crashed out - she lived to fight another day, but today she
found the speed around the court of Amelia Henley a little
too much to cope with. She found the tin too often too, which didn't
help, but many of those errors were forced by an impressive
performance from Henley.
So top seed Lucy Beecroft will face another opponent not
predicted by the seedings. She despatched Alison Thomson without too
much ado.
In the bottom half second seed Lily Taylor edged a
delicately-poised fisrt game before going on to beat Kip Quiney in
straight games, while Georgina Kennedy won the closest of all
the games, edging past Katie Wilson 11/9, 13/11, 11/9 (25m).
Kennedy's speed was able to counter Wilson's shots for the most
part, but she conceded leads in each of the games with unforced
errors, and Katie can count herself unlucky not to have taken at
least a game.. Boys U15 seeds safely
through
No upsets in the Boys U15 quarters, with top seed George Parker
and second seed Adam Turner (whom wouldn't look out of place
in an U19 matchup) coming through in straight games, alhough it took
Turner considerably longer to quell a feisty Bradley Masters than it
did Parker to ease past James Blyth.
Parker faces Jack Cooper and Turner meets James Peach
for a place in the final.
Emily flies on ...
 Emily
Whitlock underlined her status as the hot favourite for the
Girls U19 title with a comprehensive win over Sam Ward, who only
managed to get a foothold in the match towards the end of the second
game. "I only just got over the jetlag after flying back from
Canada," said Emily, but she showed no after-effects today.
Next up for Emily is 3/4 seed Rebecca Quiney who went two-nil
up against Lauren Tamilla, then held off a spirited fightback from
the Lancashire girl to win in four games.
Hopcroft delivers
We had to wait until the last match of the session for an U19 upset,
and Nick Hopcroft duly deliverd.
Earlier top seed Nathan Lake and 3/4 James Earles set
up their semi-final without much ado, both winning in straight
games, but it was tougher in the bottom half.
Second seed Declan James dropped the first game against the
ever-lively Tom Ford, but took the next three to claim his allotted
place in the last four.
 Lake
took early leads in both of the first two games against 3/4 seed
Robert Downer, and managed to hold onto both of them, despite
getting too involved with the referee. "That's not a let!" he
exclaimed at one Downer request. "No," agreed the referee, "it's a
stroke," much to the crowd's amusement and Hopcroft's disgust.
As Hopcroft again took the early advantage in the third, it was
Downer who started engaging with the official, and was in danger of
losing his head completely, but to his credit reined himself bsack
in and reduced the deficit.
But it was Hopcroft in control again in the fourth, and soon enough
Downer had played his last match as a junior (happy birthday for the
24th of this month).
 "To
say we've had many many battles is an understatement," said a
delighted Hopcroft, "I think we first played when we were seven on
the Essex Under-11s!
"It's usually 50/50 between us but I just managed to sneak it today.
I'm really pleased to win this one in my last Nationals, especially
as it's only my fourth match in a month."
Hopcroft has one title at Under 13 level - "I peaked then," he
joked, "I've been concentrating more on my studies since then."
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Smith & Ockwell
Townley & Lemom
Kennedy & Wilson
Quiney & Taylor
Masters & Turner
Mulvey & Lake
Earles & Auckland
Ford & James
Downer & Hopcroft |
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Semi-Finals
G15:
Lucy Beecroft bt Alison Henley
11/2, 11/7, 11/6 (22m)
B15:
George Parker bt Jack Cooper
11/1, 12/10, 11/2 (22m)
Top seeds through in U15
 The
first pair of semi-finals saw the top seeds safely through to the
finals, both in straight games but both had to work for their wins.
George Parker was dominant in the first and third games
against Jack Cooper, who had no answer to his shotmaking. But in the
middle game Cooper gave as good as he got, was 9/7 up and unlucky
not to level the match.
"I was in front of him in the first," said Parker, "so I was able to
hold the ball and push him around. I dropped off in the second,
managed to win that one and got it back in the third."
Lucy Beecroft was dominant too in the opening stages of her
match with Alison Henley, even if the early rallies promised a much
more competitive match, score-wise.
Henley runs for everything, fast, and she started to get rewards in
the second, but Beecroft's precise, hard-hit low drives kept earning
her enough points to stay ahead, and after pulling clear to take the
second she always looked the likely winner.
G15: Georgina
Kennedy bt Lily Taylor 11/4, 11/8, 11/6 (19m)
B15: Adam Turner bt James Peach
9/11,
11/9, 11/8, 5/11, 11/8 (49m)
Kennedy takes out Taylor,
Turner in the end ...
The second Girls U15 semi was between two players of similar styles
- second seed Lily Taylor and 3/4 Georgina Kennedy are both
essentially runners at the moment - ok, that's a little harsh but
you know what I mean - but on the day it was Kennedy who was running
harder, and hitting harder too.
The Kent girl got on top early, and never let up, with Taylor
frequently end a rally with a "what do I have to do" look on her
face. Only in the second did she seriously challenge, but once
Kennedy had taken that she was always on top in the third, as she
reached the final to the delight of herself and her bench of
supporters.
 "You
lucky so-and-so," said a relieved Adam Turner after seeing
off James Peach in a see-saw second Boys U15 semi.
Peach, seeded 3/4, led throughout the first and deservedly took the
lead. Turner, the second seed, trailed in the later stages of the
second too, and his reaction as he levelled told us he knew going
two down would have been a very bad idea.
It seemed that the crisis was averted as Turner controlled the third
to take the lead, but no, back came Peach to level. Perhaps a 6/2
lead in the decider was enough for Turner, but again no, Peach got
back to as close as 7/6 before Turner finally finished it off.
"I hate playing him," Adam admitted afterwards. "I always win, but
it's such a struggle, I just turn into a hacker when I play against
him."
G19:
Emily Whitlock bt Rebecca Quiney 11/2, 11/3, 11/1 (22m)
Katie Smith bt Lucy Townley 11/4, 6/11, 12/10, 11/6 (28m)
More Whitlock wizadry
as top seeds make the final
Another commanding performance from Emily Whitlock, who
simply had too much firepower for Rebecca Quiney. To her credit
though, Quiney never stopped running, forced the British Junior Open
champion a good number of long, contested rallies, but as is often
the case she just couldn't win many of them.
 Funny
too, how normally solid players are pressured into scuffed returns
and mishits into the floor when they're up against a much
higher-ranked opponent, and it always seems to be the favourite who
gets the lucky nicks at the end of tough rallies.
Even at 10/0 down in the third Rebecca was still fighting, and
although Emily and the whole crowd thought that the stroke the
referee awarded the underdog was generous, it was no more than she
deserved. It just goes to show though, even at ten-nil up Emily is
still ultra-competitive ... maybe that's what champions are made of.
 "That
felt a lot better than this afternoon," admitted Katy Smith
after completing her four game win over Lucy Townley to set up a
meeting with Whitlock.
It wasn't easy, far from it, with Townley powering back after a slow
start to square things up at one-all. But Smith, although she was
caught after an early lead, held on to take the third on extra
points and that proved to be crucial.
Smith's slower pace and accurate ball placement had taken the sting
out of Townley's attacks, and she took the fourth fairly
comfortably, eliciting a "get in there" from her delighted Dad as
she completed the victory.
B19:
Nathan Lake bt James Earles 11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (37m)
Declan James bt Nick Hopcroft 11/5, 11/4, 11/5 (30m)
A first title for someone ...
Top seed Nathan Lake advanced to his second-ever National
final with a straight-game win over James Earles that was
tougher than the bare scoreline suggests.
 Lake
pulled clear from the middle of the first to take the lead, but
Earles recovered to earn a 5/1 lead in the second. The rallies were
tough, and there were a few interference situations, possibly
exacerbated with both of them being left-handers.
Earles began to get annoyed and frustrated with the situations, and
the decisions, allowed it to get him as Lake fought his way back,
aided and abetted by a few tins from Earles.
Earles came out for the third to receive a conduct warning for
consistent dissent, which seemed to subdue the Yourkshireman as Lake
quickly got a grip on the game, one he never looked link
relinquishing.
"He's a talented boy," said Nathan, "and he played well this
afternoon, so for me it was a question of hanging in there, trying
to impose my game and not giving him opportunities to attack. That
worked pretty well, and fortunately when he did get in front of me
they were more down than up tonight.
"It would be nice to win a first National title before I get
old ..."
 "SO
MANY TINS," declared Nick Hopcroft as he put down the ball
that took second seed Declan James to match ball in the last
match of the day.
It was true too - the rallies were pretty even, but Hopcroft it was
who was making the errors at the end of them - including on that
match ball. "I think he made one error in the whole match," said
Hopcroft, "if he plays like that tomorrow he'll take some beating.
James, who controlled the match throughout, was impressed with his
own performance too: "Completely different from this afternoon," he
declared, "it's so much easier if you keep the ball above the tin,
and I made very few errors there, easily the best I've played this
weekend.
"I'm really looking forward to the final now," he added. "We've both
played one lost one so we'll be pretty hungry out there, it should
be a good match ..."
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Colets
Corner
from Chris Nutley
Boys U13 Quarter Finals
Falconer 11/4 11/2 11/4 12 m
Lee 11/8 11/3 11/8 25 m
Malik 11/6 11/7 11/9 19m
Keefe 11/3 11/3 6/11 11/4 22m
Girls U15 Quarter Finals
Corke 10/12 14/12 11/9 6/11 11/7 35 m
Gear 11/8 7/11 11/9 12/10 30m
A Jones 11/6 11/3 11/5 14m
E Jones 5/11 12/10 11/6 11/8 29 m
G17 Quarter Finals
Chloe Pearson bt Anna Kimberley
Brogan Lane bt Alicia Mead
Eleanor Lake bt Lucy Pallett
Victoria Temple-Murray bt Georgina Ingham
B17 Quarter Finals
Matthew Sidaway bt Jack McElvenny
Richie Fallows bt Ashley Davies
Taminda Gata-Aura bt Joe Brooke
Oliver Holland bt Lyell Fuller
All 4 top seeds will contest the
semifinals of the Boys U13 this afternoon at Colets after
comfortable wins with only Robbie Keefe dropping a game to 9/16 seed
Aidan O'Brien
There was a major upset in the Girls U13 as 5/8 seed Libby
Corke (Warwickshire) beat number 1 seed Elize Lazarus (Essex) in
5. 3/4 seed Grace Gear prevailed in a tough match against
Amber Peacey 12/10 in the 4th to set up a semi-final against giant
killer Corke.
No 2 seed Elin Jones won a tight match against Nadine El
Refee 3/1 after losing the first game 11/5. Jones will now play
Amy Jones who had a comfortable win against Colette
Whittington
The Girls U17 Quarter Finals were certainly entertaining. No1
seed Chloe Pearson (Warwickshire) marched into a 2 game lead
over Anna Kimberley (Essex) before losing her way and the 3rd
easily.
She regained some composure in the 4th but lost out narrowly 10-12
before finally taking control again and taking the decider 11/6 – a
great match but Pearson will need more to be sure of reaching the
final. In the semi’s Pearson will face second seed Brogan Lane
(Hertfordshire) who looks to have found some form with a 3-1 defeat
of Alicia Mead (Warwickshire).
Eleanor Lake (Glocs) was completely dominant in her quarter
and prevented Lucy Pallett (Warwickshire) from settling – taking it
easily in 3. Waiting in the semi’s is second seed Victoria
Temple-Murray (Devon) who beat Georgina Ingham (Surrey).
After taking the 1st 11-3 Murray had to battle hard to take the 2nd
in a tie breaker which seemed to take too much out of Ingham and
Murray ran out a 3-0 victor.
Matthew Sidaway (Lancashire) and Oliver Holland
(Nottinghamshire), the top 2 seeds in the Boys U17’s are
still on course to meet in tomorrow’s final after straight forward
quarter final wins over Jack McElvenny (Warwickshire) and Lyell
Fuller (Devon) respectively.
The pair now face the 3/4 seeds - Sidaway takes on Richie Fallows
(Essex) who saw off his great rival Ashley Davies (Debyshire) will a
hard fought good 3-1 in 69 minutes. In the other half of the draw
Holland must now tackle Taminda Gata-Aura (Yorkshire) who
beat Joe Brooke – also in 4.
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Semis at Colets.
G13:
Grace Gear bt Libby Corke
11/7, 11/5, 11/2 (14m)
Elin Jones bt Amy Jones
11/6, 11/6, 11/8 (19m)
Gear ends Corke run
After Libby Corke had pulled off the surprise of the weekend
by taking out hot favourite Elise Lazarus (Essex) in the quarters it
was interesting to see if she would be able to carry that run on and
reach the final against the seedings.
It was a nervous first game with neither player settling well but it
was Grace Gear how pulled away and took it 11/7. From then on
there was only going to be one winner with Gear controlling the
match completely and running out a comfortable 11/7 11/5 11/2 winner
in just 14 minutes.
It was a disappointing semi for Corke but I suppose her quarter
final had been her final but she will surely take heart from a great
weekend and return stronger for it in the future.
Next up was Elin Jones
(Gloucestershire) against Amy Jones (Buckinghamshire) in the
second Girls U13 semi final.
This was a match of big hitting with both players trying to outdo
each other with power and speed - aut simply it was Elin who did
this better on the day and took it 11/6 11/6 11/8 in 19 minutes and
moves on to Sunday's final.
B15:
Robbie Keefe bt Curtis Malik
3/2
Charlie Lee bt Harry Falconer
3/2
Top seed perishes ...
The first Boys U13 semi saw Robbie Keefe (Hampshire) take on
Curtis Malik (Sussex), No2 seed and No2 in the national rankings
against 3/4 seed and the No3 ranked player.
It was a great match which Malik took by the scuff of the neck and
raced into a 2-0 lead. His speed, power and great winners looked
like it was going to take him though without too much trouble.
However at 2up in the 3rd he mishit a simple forehand and suddenly
the balance started to turn - unforced errors started to creep in
and Keefe got himself back into it with some controlled squash - a
game back.
The 4th saw Malik have spells of brilliance but also some periods
where he started to lose his composure before he got to 10-8 and 2
match balls - surely this would be enough! Keefe certainly didn't
think so and he dragged it out of the bag to take it 14-12 - all
down to the decider. Unfortunately that disappointment affected
Malik terribly and he failed to make any impression in the 5th with
Keefe steaming ahead to win it 11/2. A great match!
The last Under 13 semi proved to be the best - Harry Falconer
(Lincolnshire) verses Charlie Lee (Surrey). Falconer is the
reigning British Champion and has been No1 in the rankings for some
time.
Right from the off it was nip and tuck with each player matching
each other point for point. Falconer got the first match ball, Lee
the second before Falconer finally took the first game 13-11. It
seemed to be going with seed as Falconer also took the 2nd and went
4-2 up in the 3rd but there really was nothing in it and Lee managed
to take the 3rd to keep his hopes alive.
The 4th was just as competitive with each taking their turn to edge
ahead before Falconer got to 10-9 and match ball - but Lee wasn't to
be beaten and this time it he who clinched the tie breaker 14-12.
There really was nothing to choose between them in the 5th but from
8-8 it was Lee that found the energy to make the difference and took
it 11-7 - 52 minutes of top class junior squash. So out went the No1
seed and Lee moves on hoping to claim the first major title of his
career.
G17:
Chloe Pearson bt Brogan Lane
11/2, 11/6, 11/6 (21m)
Victoria Temple-Murray bt Eleanor Lake 11/5, 11/8, 11/0
(19m)
Chloe Pearson (Warwickshire)
became the first No1 seed at Colets to reach the final with a
clinical performance against an out of sorts 3/4 seed Brogan Lane
(Hertfordshire).
Pearson flew out of the blocks and raced to a 10-0 lead encountering
little resistance before Lane got a point on the board, but it was
soon 1-0 to Pearson. At 1-7 down in the 2nd Lane briefly threatened
a fightback and closed it up to 6-7 before Pearson resumed her
dominance and took the match 11-2 11-6 11-6 in 21 minutes.
Pearson looks impressive and will surely be hot favourite to take
the title on Sunday
B17:
Matt Sidaway bt Richie Fallows
11/7, 7/11, 11/6, 11/7 (48m)
Olly Holland bt Taminda Gata-Aura 9/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/1 (42m) |
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