THE results from the Isle of Man Junior Squash Championships which were held on Sunday, January 23, at the NSC:
Under 15 Mixed
There was one seeding upset in the first round with Ben Peach narrowly beating Edward Batty 15-14. This was a good tournament for Ben as he ended up in seventh position overall.
The best match of the second round was Oscar Hill defeating Hannah Dixon 15-14.
Oliver Dickinson also did well to defeat Scott Jones 15-10.
Courtney Gilardoni also upset the seedings by defeating Macklin Wilson 15-12.
In the plate final Edward Batty defeated Peter Baker 2-0 in a best of three games match.
There was also a good win in the final round for Dewald Joubert who beat Hannah Dixon 15-13 to finish fifth - a good performance from the eighth seed.
The play-off for third and fourth place was the best match of the tournament with Oscar Hill coming from behind to defeat Oliver Dickinson 2-1.
There was some fine squash played in the final between Patrick Fitzpatrick and Hadyn McLarney. Patrick took the lead early in the first game and Hadyn was never quite able to get his nose in front with Patrick taking it 11-9. The second game was more straightforward with Patrick winning 11-6.
Under 15 Girls
Courtney Gilardoni got revenge for her defeat by Katherine Picken in the under 17 final by winning her semi final 15-12. Courtney played Hannah Dixon (Merseyside under 15 girls county champion) in the final. Courtney fought hard and retrieved well but was unable to prevent Hannah winning 2-0.
Under 11 Boys
This competition was played as a round robin with the top two going through to the final. Sidney Batty won all his matches to finish top. Calum Baker only lost to Sidney to qualify for the final. Best match of the round robin was Jack Taylor versus Lewis Bridson with Jack just winning 15-13.
In the final Sidney (Merseyside under 11 county runner up) was a little bit too strong for Calum and won 2-0.
Under 11 Girls/Under 9 Boys
This was played to a similar format to the under 11 boys.
The round robin was very close with three girls, Amaline Batty, Clare Townsend and Lara Stewart all winning three out of four of their matches.
Amaline and Clare both ended up with 57 points to qualify for the final just ahead of Lara who had 53. The final was very close with both girls showing skill, determination and athleticism. Clare eventually won 2-0 after a fine match.
Microgaming sponsored the championship. Ashley Sykes from Microgaming was on hand to present the prizes.
Match report by Dave Griffiths
