Top four finishes for squash teams
A promising finals run had three out of five Men’s squash teams and four out of six Women’s teams secure top four finishes at the end of round robin play, with three Men’s and two Women’s teams progressing to the Winter Interclub finals.
With some tight matchups and strong performances in the end it was the Te Awamutu Men’s and Women’s A teams who triumphed to secure Division 2 wins for Te Awamutu Squash Club.
After finishing second seed at the end of round robin play, the Men’s A team were unstoppable, convincingly winning both their semi-finals and finals matchups 4-0.
Confident of their chances to secure a Division 2 win, the Men’s A team top four of Craig Watkinson, Cliff Nightingale, Wade Bell and Brandon Horn were all class as they triumphed over fourth seed round robin finishers Thames A in their finals match up.
A solid season from all team members, including Aisha Ross, Craig McDonald and Rob Pearce, placed the Men’s team in a strong position.
The Men’s B and D teams were not as lucky in their finals matches.
The Men’s B team lost by just one game, after tying their finals matches 2-2 against the top seed Leamington B team in some tight contests to finish runners-up of Division 4.
The Taupiri Men’s C team however proved to be just too strong on the night securing a 3-1 match win over the third seed Te Awamutu Men’s D team.
That team did well to make the finals after taking out second seed Ruakura D in their semifinals match.
In the Women’s division, the third-seeded A team’s run to the top was not as straight forward, with the Te Awamutu team first having to overcome the second seed Te Kuiti A team to secure a finals spot.
This was no easy feat. In the end it was a nail biting one-game win that had them sneak through after tying the matches 2-2 in their semi-final.
With cool heads and strong performances from the top four, including newly earned B1 graded players Melissa Attewell and Kara Prout, the Te Awamutu Women’s A team secured a comfortable 3-1 match victory against fourth-seed Round Robin finishers Ruakura A to claim a well-deserved Division 2 victory.
The roles were reversed however for the Te Awamutu C team, who went into the finals match favourites after a strong 3-1 match win over Aria A in the semi-finals.
Ruakura B were out for victory with their top four players outstanding in a dominating 4-0 match winning performance to claim the Division 4 title.