Archive News
Double first for junior squash as Joe and Tom take top honours
The latest round of the Norfolk Junior Squash Grand Prix series on Sunday February 17 saw two firsts. It was the first time that Potters Leisure Resort at Hopton, Great Yarmouth hosted an event, alongside Broadland Sports Club, and the first time that the American scoring system was adopted in such a tournament.
England Squash are adopting American scoring (a point awarded for every rally) for all junior squash competitions, helping to ensure that many exciting matches took place in all groups.
Group 1 produced some cracking close games with Joe Bolt pipping Seb Denby at the death by winning one more leg. All four players played some outstanding squash with great sportsmanship, all the way through.
Final Placings 1. Joe Bolt 8pts, 2. Seb Denby 7 pts, 3. Alex Foster 5 pts, 4 Jack Bell 5pts.
In Group 2, Tom Morris justified his top seeding by winning the group, but was pushed into a fourth set by both Tom Belshaw and then Jordan Creed in a fiercely contested and skilful final. Daniel Compton competed well in his first Grand Prix and it was great to see Andrew and Bryony Paczy-Smith making the trip up from Stowmarket to compete also. With 7 of the 8 final matches going beyond 3 games all of the players were involved in close matches.
Final Placings 1. Tom Morris 2. Jordan Creed 3. Tom Belshaw 4. Daniel Compton, 5. Andrew Paczy-Smith (Suffolk) 6. Jonathan Warrin 7. Bryony Paczy-Smith (Suffolk) 8. Daniel Roberts.
Adam Sinkins of Fakenham beat clubmate Connor Doy for a Group 3 win, with other notable performances coming from Harry Dye who beat both Robert Davis and Lasith Ranasinghe by 3-2, and Alex Coburn over Robert Davies 3-1.
Final Placings 1. Adam Sinkins 2. Connor Doy 3. Chris Davis 4. Sam Lanham 5. Harry Dye 6. Lasith Ranasinghe 7. Alex Coburn 8. Robert Davis.
Group 4 saw another win for Josh Brownlow from Harleston in a tie-break decider with Ryan Seymour from Fakenham 11/8, 10/12, 11/8, 7/11, 13/11. It was also good to see Ben Cushion making a welcome return to the Grand Prix Series and gaining a win over Giles Evans.
Final Placings 1. Josh Brownlow 2. Ryan Seymour 3. Jamie Tuck 4. Ben Cushion 5. Giles Evans.
Bradley Rix from Potters was too strong for Group 5 and can look forward to some stiffer competition next time out. Reece Lacaille showed most improvement in winning 2 of his 3 matches and young Alex Paczy-Smith also competed well in his first Tournament.
Final Placings 1. Bradley Rix 2. Ollie Bickley 3. Reece Lacaille 4. Alex Paczy-Smith 5, Verity Kelly 6. Emma Jolly 7. Jessica Arneil.
Girl power ruled in Group 6 with newcomer Jade Spalding from Fakenham beating Sam Burrows 3-1 for the group win. Closest matches of the day involved the series of matches between Katie Cox, Alice Fuller and Lucy Rix all aged 10 or under. Alice beat Lucy 12/14, 11/7, 11/13, 11/6, 11/7 and Katie 11/6, 12/10, 14/12, whilst Katie beat Lucy 8/11, 16/18, 13/11, 11/9, 11/7 to complete an exhausting day's squash.
Final Placings 1. Jade Spalding 2. Sam Burrows 3. Daniel Fuller 4. Alice Fuller 5. Lucy Rix 6 Katie Cox.
The next Grand Prix tournament takes place on March 16 at Bannatynes and Oasis sports clubs, both in Thorpe St Andrews, Norwich. For more details contact Tony Henden, Tel: 01603 748303, Mob: 07900 558493, Email: tonyhenden@ntlworld.com
Pictured are group 5 and 6 winners Bradley Rix and Jade Spalding, and Group 2 winner Tom Morris (right in white top) and runner-up Jordan Creed.
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