The junior squash season is now up and running and two tournaments were held during school half-term last week.

The first was the Island Junior Championships, which were scheduled to be held earlier in the year but postponed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was a draw of 12 juniors, with a mixture of experienced players and newcomers.

The experienced Leighton Ginty took on tournament debutee Rocco Spencer in the first round, with the latter performing well and taking plenty of points despite losing the match 0-2.

The semi-finals were the matches of the day. First up was number one seed Olly Wait versus Isaac Quayle and, despite Olly winning in three, Isaac’s ability to get almost every ball back and force his opponent to win the points made for a great spectacle.

The second semi was between good friends Ben Leith and Christian Webster, with both players going into the match in great form. The match ebbed and flowed and the players pushed each other round the court with a great variety of shots, but Ben played the big points well and managed to seal a 3-1 victory and progress to the final.

Olly went into the final as the favourite, but Ben had other ideas and stormed out of the blocks playing aggressive squash to take the first game. But, after the opener, Olly composed himself and managed to control the court better, going on to take the match 3-1 and clinch another junior title.

Onto the second tournament of the season, the Autumn Ranking event. There was a draw for the 16 juniors and in the first round it all went to seeding apart from one match between Harrison Callow and Bobby Baxter, with the latter coming out on top and making it into the last eight.

Again in the quarter-finals all matches went to seeding, but there was an upset in the semi-finals where Isaac Quayle managed to play some amazing squash to beat higher seed Christian Webster and progress to the final.

Up against Ben Leith in the final, the two again had a very close match, as in previous encounters. The rallies were long and both played at the top of their game, but Ben managed to sneak it in three hard-fought games.

A special mention to the younger players who did well in their first tournaments, namely Jonas Cruz, Zara Levy, Sebastian Levy and Rocco Spencer. It made for a great start to the season with some excellent squash on display.

All coaches would like to thank parents and guardians for their support and ensuring players arrived on time.

Any under-19s currently not playing squash who would like to get involved, please contact junior development officer Patrick Fitzpatrick by email on [email protected]