Watts bows out in straight sets
Manawatu’s Kaitlyn Watts was the last Kiwi standing at the World Junior Squash Championships in Tauranga.
But the Kiwi No 1’s run came to an end on Thursday night when she lost in straight sets to Malaysia’s Chan Yiwen (11-4 11-7 11-4).
Yiwen was seeded inside the top 16 for the tournament while Watts was unseeded. The win for Yiwen saw her matched up against top seed Hania El Hammamy from Egypt in the top 16.
Watts beat Australian Courtney Mather in straight sets (11-4 11-2 11-6) to advance to the second day of the tournament. She now has a chance to battle for the special plate.
She made the quarterfinal of the special plate at the World Junior Championships in Eindhoven in 2015.
Earlier this year she picked up the Under 19 Oceania Junior Championships title as well as the New Zealand Junior Open title.
Fellow Kiwis Anika Jackson and Anna Hughes were also knocked out on Thursday as the favourites all advanced.
Meanwhile, there was a familiar face backing the Colombia team at the championships with Martin Knight coaching the team.
Born and bred on the Kapiti Coast, he played squash for New Zealand at three Commonwealth Games, winning a silver medal with Joelle King in Delhi in 2010.
He admitted it was tough coaching against the Kiwis.
‘‘If you think about it, you worry about it,’’ Knight said. ‘‘For me it has to be player versus player, not country versus country. That’s easier for me.
‘‘I try not to put any thought into the New Zealand part of it. In the moment of the match I just focus on my player.’’
Knight is certainly not the first New Zealander to coach against his country. Rugby’s had a spate of them in recent years with Warren Gatland, Vern Cotter, Joe Schmidt, Robbie Deans and even All Blacks coach Steve Hansen who coached Wales against the All Blacks in 2003.
‘‘It doesn’t change where are from and what your beliefs are,’’ Knight said of coaching another country, ‘‘but I’m there to do a job and my focus has to be on that job.’’
It’s a job Knight initially turned down as he wanted to keep playing and have a crack at a fourth Commonwealth Games for New Zealand on the Gold Coast next year.
But a persistent shoulder injury finally forced him to retire and take up coaching full-time, joining Colombia six months ago.
He’s enjoying being back in New Zealand and had three players in the top 32 going into the second day of the tournament.