April Goings On

I have a few more days at home this week before a hectic rest of April. Friday sees the start of the British Under 23 Championships being held, once again, at Hunts County Squash Club in the idyllic Hemingford Grey, Cambridgshire. After reaching the final last year, I am heading the seedings this time. My first match is at 5pm on Friday against Georgie Ingham from Surrey. The last time we played, I was 14 and she was 9 (I think??). A preview of the event can be found here.

I didn't have much time to get over the jetlag last week before my team, Kenilworth, faced a visiting challenge from the multi-time European champions, Pontefract, in the National Clubs Championships. We knew they were going to bring a strong team and it was always an uphill battle. By the time I went on, the rest of my team had all gone down fighting but unable to get a single game off quality opponents.

This left me with the job of retrieving some pride from the dead rubber! All the more daunting when I knew I was up against Vanessa Atkinson, former world number 1 and world champion as well as winner of our previous 4 encounters; the most recent being a 3-1 win on her way to the Nottingham WISPA title last August.
Vanessa started the better, taking the first game 11-5 and racing to a 4-0 lead in the second, before I started to get her off the 'T' a bit more and keep the ball straighter, to stop those damn drop volleys!! I snuck the second 11-9 to make it 1-1. She dominated the middle of the 3rd game and although I closed the gap, I could never quite catch up, eventually catching the tin to give the game and 2-1 lead to Vanessa, 11-7. I came out firing in the 4th and flew to a 5-0 lead. This proved enough as I took the game 11-5. The 5th was close with never more than a few points in it. Vanessa pulled away from 8-8 to get 2 match points but a nicked cross court and a volley boast later I had it back to 10-10. The rallies that followed were tense, both wanting to go for it but determined not to make the mistake. I closed the game out on my third match point, 14-12, to take the match after 55 minutes and retain some pride to Kenilworth. A great match for the Kenilworth faithful to watch, even a few tennis members ventured past their normal boundaries to never before seen territory of the squash balcony.
As we beat Nottingham in out other match in the competition we have to wait and see if we progress to the National finals weekend in June.

Plans for a new show court to be constructed at Kenilworth were passed at the AGM 2 weeks ago, so in the not to distant future matches like this can be showcased more effectively and the new court could possibly even entertain a PSL team in the future.


Last Tournament: National Clubs Championships
Venue: Kenilworth Squash Club
Opponent: Vanessa Atkinson
Score: 3-2 (5-11 11-9 7-11 11-5 14-12) 55 minutes

Current Tournament: -
Venue: -
Next Opponent: -

Next Tournament: British Under 23 Championships
Venue: Hunts County Squash Club, Hemingford Grey
Seeded: 1
Date/Time: 5pm 13/04/12
Opponent: Georgie Ingham

Current World Ranking: 65