Nelson Bays Squash - To grow, promote and develop the game of squash in the Nelson Bays area

LOCAL PLAYER UPDATES

WELLINGTON JUNIOR OPEN:

Callum Seymour: Boys U13 Champion (16 draw), Boys U15 Special Plate (19 draw)

Chris Collins: Boys U15 third (19 draw)

Amy Seymour: Girls U19 Special Plate Winner

NORTH ISLAND AND SOUTH ISLAND JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Congratulations to Callum Seymour (D1) of Motueka came second in the South Island Age Groups squash tournament. Callum went down in the age group final to Sam Sayes (C2) of Whangarei in Christchurch over the holidays.

Chris Collins (C1) came 6th in North Islands Age Groups U15 and 5th in U15 in South Islands. Reece O’Connell managed to finish at 11th in the NI and SI boys U19 draw.

Leah Orr (B2) improved her ranking by 2 places after taking out the second seed in the first round, Leah went on to finish 4th in Girls U19.

Sophie O’Connell (C1) finished 4th in girls U15. Great to see Rosie Peat (J3) and Josh Dow (J3) playing in their first SI Junior Champs - they didn’t win any matches but both improved heaps as they went, both going to 5 setters in their last matches.

Megan Craig (A2) of Marlborough also cleaned up at the South Islands taking out the women’s open championship with straight sets in the final against second seed Jutta Tuunanen. Craig also went on to win the Men’s second division final shortly after her Open title win.

CELTIC J GRADE ROOKIE SERIES

Congratulations to all Junior Squashers who took part in the Celtic J Grade tourney over the weekend.
1st Division Winner: Felix Murray, Runner Up: Oliver Reiter.
2nd Division Winner: Jack Scott, Runner Up: Oliver Waterworth.
3rd Division Winner: Josh Dow, Runner Up: Alana Behringer.
4th Division Tied Winners: Harry MacDonald, Ashleigh Martin, Jacob Linn.
5th Division Winner: Jack Shee

Nelson Junior Age groups 2010

The future of squash in Nelson is looking healthy, if the standard and enthusiasm displayed at the Mainland Foundation Nelson Bays Squash Junior Age Group champs at the weekend is anything to go by. 25 boys and 7 girls entries aged between 9 and 18 contested their age group competitions. The competition was particularly tough in the boys U13 and U11 divisions and it is encouraging to see so many keen and talented young players coming up through the grades.

The boys U19 final was another great tussle between Reece O'Connell (Waimea) and Sam Church (Celtic). Church struck the tough side of the draw, defeating MIchael Hughes in the second round to make it through to the final. Church started the first game with pace, and took it comfortably . However, O'Connell slowed his serve down and volleyed well to take the next two games . Great retrieving from both players ensured some long rallies and entertaining squash and it was a close finish in the 4th but O'Connell had the edge and took the game 15/13 to win the match 3/1 .

Boys U17 title was won by Motueka's Izaak Behringer. Behringer kept his opponent Matthew Wehner (Waimea) under pressure all the way with good length although Wehner did well to push him to 14-14 in the 3rd game. Behringer won the match 3/0. Chris Collins (Waimea) was the clear winner in Boys U15 defeating Callum Seymour (Motueka) in the final. The boys U13 title was won comfortably by Callum Seymour (Motueka) who was also runner up in the U15 division, after defeating Matt Heyward (Waimea).

Matt Heyward (Waimea) had to work hard against Josh Dow (Celtic) in the Boys U11 final. There were some great rallies and good thinking squash from both boys but it was Heyward's accurate serving that gave him the edge he needed to win the match and U11 boys title .

Nelson Bays top junior girl Leah Orr (Nelson) comfortably won the U19 girls title after defeating Gemma Martin (Waimea) and Alice Topliss (Nelson). Martin and Topliss also played off for the girls U17 final which was a very close match, Martin winning in 5 games. Sophie O'Connell (Waimea) was also much stronger than her opponents in the girls U15 and she won the division comfortably, but it was another very close battle for 2nd and 3rd place between Motueka's Alana Behringer and her club mate Rosie Peat. Peat won the match 17-15 in the 5th game. Melanie Townsend from Motueka won the girls U13 title.

Results:

Boys U 19:

Winner Reece O'Connell (Waimea)

Runner up: Sam Church (Celtic)

3rd: Stephen Roberts (Waimea)

4th: Michael Hughes (Waimea)

Boys U17

Winner: Izaak Behringer (Motueka)

Runner up: Matt Wehner (Waimea)

3rd Caleb Watkins (Nelson)

Boys U15

Winner: Chris Collins (Nelson)

Runner Up: Callum Seymour (Motueka)

3rd: JackChurch
4th Ben Watson

Boys U13

Winner: Callum Seymour (Motueka)

Runner Up; Matt Heyward (Waimea)

3rd: Felix Murray (Nelson)

4th: Ben Kearns

Boys U11:

Winner: Matt Heyward (Waimea)

Runner up: Josh Dow (Celtic)

Special Plate:Fergus Currie (Nelson)

Plate: Joe Sharland (Waimea)

Consolation Plate: Bailey Dixon (Nelson)

Girls U 19

Winner: Leah Orr (Nelson)

Girls U 17:

Winner: Gemma Martin (Waimea)

Runner UP: Alice Topliss (Nelson)

Girls U15

Winner: Sophie O'Connell (Waimea)

Runner Up: Rosie Peat (Motueka)

3rd: Alana Behringer (Motueka)

Girls U13:

Winner: Melanie Townsend (Motueka)

RAI SHIELD

NELSON BAYS SQUASH JUNIORS CLAIM TWO TITLES OVER MARLBOROUGH

Nelson Bays Squash juniors claimed both the Rai Shield and Russ Rhodes Rooster Trophy after a successful day of competitive squash at the Marlborough Lines Stadium Courts on Sunday.Nelson Bays beat Subway Marlborough convincingly 11-5 on matches in the Rai Shield while the J Grade Russ Rhodes Rooster competition was reclaimed from Marlborough in a much closer tie with Nelson Bays winning 9-7. The Rai team comprises of the regions top 4 boys and and top 4 girls, who play Marlborough's top junior players in singles and reverse singles during the day. The Russ Rhodes Rooster teams comprises of the regions best available J grade players. Girls and Boys match points are combined for a team total. The Nelson Bays girls dropped only one match out of 8 during the day. The Seymour sisters, Amy and Melissa (Motueka), filled the number one and two spots,and lead the way for the girls with solid wins over Kelsi Brown and Nicole Burrows. Sophie O'Connell (Waimea)at number 3 made short work of her opponents, winning both matches easily. An injury suffered by Leah Orr (Nelson) last weekend meant she was not available to play, and Paige Barnett (Waimea) was called up from the J grade team to fill the number 4 spot. Barnett stepped up to the task admirably, winning her first match against Brittany Hughes of Marlborough 3-1. Marlborough's Hannah Newman was too strong though, and Barnett lost 0-3. .

The Nelson Bays boys had their work cut out for them against a much stronger Marlborough boys team - particularly the number one and two players Michael Hughes (Waimea) and Sam Church (Celtic). Megan Craig, recently returned from the World Junior Womens' Championships in India and a fourth placing at the Inspire.Net New Zealand Squash Championship took the top spot in the boys team and was in top form, beating Hughes 3-1 and Church 3-0. Josh Van Velzen was also impressive as he defeated the Nelson duo without dropping a game. Reece O'Connell (Waimea) got off to a shaky start against Chas Craig after dropping the first two games, but once he found better length he was able to take more control of the match, winning 3-2 and provided a useful win for the boys team. Chris Collins (Waimea)also had his work cut out for him, winning 3-2 against newcomer Steven Turrell. Turrell impressive retrieving skills put a lot of pressure on Collins, who did well to adjust his game to the warm conditions to play better length and tighter drops. O'Connell also found Turrell's retrieving abilty a force to be reckoned with, but he learned to be patient during the long rallies, playing the winning shot at the right time winning the match 3-1. Collins found better form against Craig in the second round, winning 3-1 with quality squash.

Many of the players in the Nelson Bays J grade team had only played their first competitive competition the week before at the Nelson Bays Junior Age Group champs and while the boys stuggled against the experienced Marlborough team, the Nelson Bays girls were again the dominant force, winning 8 out of 8 matches. It was not all plain sailing for the girls though and many of the wins were hard earned, with several going to 5 games. Nelson Bays number one and two Gemma Martin (Waimea) and Alice Topliss (Nelson) both slogged it out to win in 5 games against Marlborough's number one, Jamee Thomas in the singles and reverse singles. Rosie Peat (Motueka) served particularly well to defeat Jasmine Demchy 3-1 and won her second match by default after her Marlborough opponent was struck down by illness. Ashleigh Martin (Waimea) had two good wins over Amelia Wadsworth 3-0 and Jasmine Demchy 3-1.In the boys competition Nelson Bays' Alex Candler (Nelson) found the going tough losing both matches but he improved rapidly as the day went on, and picked up a game against Sean Dundas in the second round. Josh Dow (Celtic) also picked up a valuable game against Jack Demchy losing 1-3, and 0-3 to Ben Roughan. Marcus Hungerford struggled in the number two spot against more experienced opposition, dropping both of his matches 3-0.

With only one match left to play the Marlborough boys team had won 7 out of 8 matches, the Nelson Bays girls had won 8 out of 8 and the games score was 27-26 to Marlborough. With game points going in Marlborough's favour in the event of an 8-8 draw, Nelson Bays number 4 player Ben Watson (Waimea) needed to win his final match against Jack Demchy outright for Nelson Bays to take the J grade trophy. The pair were evenly matched, and the match see-sawed to 2-2 in a great battle between the two, but Watson was determined and he pipped Demchy in the 5th to take the match 3-2 giving Nelson Bays the win needed to take the J grade Russ Rhodes Rooster trophy, 9 matches to 7. The game score of 29 -29 indicates how close the competition was.

NElson Bays Squash junior age groups 2009

Junior Age Group Winners: Left to Right Callum Seymour (Motueka), Chris Collins (Waimea), Josh Wood (Waimea), Josh Dow (Celtic), Missy Seymour (Motueka), Reece O'Connell (Waimea), Leah Orr (Nelson), Sophie O'Connell (Waimea), and Alana Behringer (Motueka). Absent - Scott Galloway.

AGE GROUP FINAL PLACING

UNDER 11 Boys: Winner - Josh Dow, Runner Up - Felix Murray

UNDER 11 Girls: Not Contested

UNDER 13 Boys: Winner - Callum Seymour, Runner Up - Matt Holyoake

UNDER 13 Girls: Winner - Alana Behringer, Runner Up - Rosie Peat

UNDER 15 Boys: Winner - Chris Collins, Runner Up - Jack Church

UNDER 15 Girls: Winner - Sophie O'Connell, Runner Up - Paige Barnett

UNDER 17 Boys: Winner - Reece O'Connell, Runner Up - Sam Church

UNDER 17 Girls: Winner - Leah Orr, Runner Up - Amy Seymour

UNDER 19 Boys: Winner - Josh Wood, Runner Up - Sean O'Connell

UNDER 19 Girls: Winner - Missy Seymour

J GRADE ROOKIE series