Junior Inter County Semi Finals |
November 2016
|
Lily Main - Natalie Main - Sophia John
Disappointment for County Girls
With no senior activity local squash focus turned to the Inter County Junior semi-finals. A strange quirk meant that Beds were represented by three players who are all players for Luton and Dunstable Squash Club. The team travelled to Middlesex with high hopes, however, it was not to be as they narrowly missed out on becoming the first ever Beds side in history to make a Junior Final.
The day got off to a good start as number 3 string Lily Main saw off the host’s Imogen Fox 3-1. However, alarm bells were ringing as a previously unknown player, Ameerah Elgarhy played at no1 for Middlesex. Whilst Beds’s Sophia John saw her off comfortably with a 3-0 win, it meant that Middlesex’s normal no1 played at 2 and that proved pivotal for the day as Natalie Main, still only 10, lost out to Meha Shah!
Next up for Beds was Kent. The tie got off to a controversial start as the behaviour of Kent’s Isabel McCullough resembled Veruca Salt rather than a junior squash player. The match ebbed and flowed and in the fifth at 7-3 McCullough hit the tin, but caught Lily Main on the follow through. After the application of an ice-pack Main returned to the court to discover the ref had remarkably awarded a penalty stroke to her opponent. Main never recovered and lost 3-2. Kent’s no1 was Ella Tunon and having had several battles with Beds no. 3 last season with the latter prevailing on all but one occasion it was no surprise that Beds’s Sophia John was far too strong for her and ran out a comfortable winner. That meant the tie hinged on the No.2 string match between Natalie Main and the experienced Lottie Hill. Main duly triumphed but not without conceding a needless game.
Last up Beds faced the red hot favourites and one of the favourites for the whole tournament Essex. Lily Main could provide little more than token resistance against Brooke Smith, the mornings exertions clearly having taken their toll. Sophia John on the other hand produced arguably the best squash of her life and could well have produced a major shock against the talented Aliza Sheikh, one of the stand out players of her age in the country. John took the first and seemed surprised how much she dominated. Sheikh, responded as top players do by winning the next two, but then John had three game balls to take it to an unprecedented fifth, but failed to convert them going down 15-13. That performance must give John heart as she looks to break into the top 5 this season. In the dead rubber Hannah Morley was much too strong for Natalie Main as she ran out a comfortable 3-0 winner.
As it transpired, even if Beds had converted their chances and Middlesex had fielded their normal team, results elsewhere in the country would have deprived them of a slot in the final anyway.
Note to editors:
For further information contact Paul Main on pauljmain@LDSquash.com, or on 07787 920451
With no senior activity local squash focus turned to the Inter County Junior semi-finals. A strange quirk meant that Beds were represented by three players who are all players for Luton and Dunstable Squash Club. The team travelled to Middlesex with high hopes, however, it was not to be as they narrowly missed out on becoming the first ever Beds side in history to make a Junior Final.
The day got off to a good start as number 3 string Lily Main saw off the host’s Imogen Fox 3-1. However, alarm bells were ringing as a previously unknown player, Ameerah Elgarhy played at no1 for Middlesex. Whilst Beds’s Sophia John saw her off comfortably with a 3-0 win, it meant that Middlesex’s normal no1 played at 2 and that proved pivotal for the day as Natalie Main, still only 10, lost out to Meha Shah!
Next up for Beds was Kent. The tie got off to a controversial start as the behaviour of Kent’s Isabel McCullough resembled Veruca Salt rather than a junior squash player. The match ebbed and flowed and in the fifth at 7-3 McCullough hit the tin, but caught Lily Main on the follow through. After the application of an ice-pack Main returned to the court to discover the ref had remarkably awarded a penalty stroke to her opponent. Main never recovered and lost 3-2. Kent’s no1 was Ella Tunon and having had several battles with Beds no. 3 last season with the latter prevailing on all but one occasion it was no surprise that Beds’s Sophia John was far too strong for her and ran out a comfortable winner. That meant the tie hinged on the No.2 string match between Natalie Main and the experienced Lottie Hill. Main duly triumphed but not without conceding a needless game.
Last up Beds faced the red hot favourites and one of the favourites for the whole tournament Essex. Lily Main could provide little more than token resistance against Brooke Smith, the mornings exertions clearly having taken their toll. Sophia John on the other hand produced arguably the best squash of her life and could well have produced a major shock against the talented Aliza Sheikh, one of the stand out players of her age in the country. John took the first and seemed surprised how much she dominated. Sheikh, responded as top players do by winning the next two, but then John had three game balls to take it to an unprecedented fifth, but failed to convert them going down 15-13. That performance must give John heart as she looks to break into the top 5 this season. In the dead rubber Hannah Morley was much too strong for Natalie Main as she ran out a comfortable 3-0 winner.
As it transpired, even if Beds had converted their chances and Middlesex had fielded their normal team, results elsewhere in the country would have deprived them of a slot in the final anyway.
Note to editors:
For further information contact Paul Main on pauljmain@LDSquash.com, or on 07787 920451