Teenagers win squash titles

Local juniors won both the women’s and men’s divisions of the Totalflow Tawa B Grade Tournament at Tawa Squash Club recently.

A field of 72 players battled it out over four days, from March 14 until 17. In the women’s final, 16- year- old Ellen Verry overpowered Paris Dalrymple-Mortleman from Mitchell Park. Her first victory over her higher-graded rival was a gripping five-set match.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Jason van der Walt, 17, had a tougher road to victory, which included defeating top seed Andrew Smith, also from Tawa, 3-2 in the semifinal, then going on to beat second seed Simon Berkett, from Khandallah, 3-1 in the final.

Verry and van der Walt are part of the recentlyformed Tawa Junior Squash Academy, which was assisted by funding from the Tawa Community Board. The academy is set to have a public launch on Sunday, April 7, with special guest Joelle King, New Zealand’s top female player, world number seven and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

Amid the tournament, a Saturday night of festivities with a St Patrick’s theme was a great success, said club manager Peter Bowers.