Junior success in Millicent
02 Apr 2014 - Paul Ashworth
The Millicent Squash Club held their 2014 Thompson Drilling Junior Skills tournament last Sunday (30 March). The tournament was a great success with 40 juniors competing in six divisions. Players were represented from Millicent 19, Adelaide 9, Naracoorte 9, and Clare 3 and being a skills event meant they were graded into a division for their ability and not on age.
Division 1 was a pool of four with the two best U/17 boys in the state playing off in the final. Alex Oswald from Adelaide who is ranked 2nd in Australia for U/17 boys won this match against Sam Haydon 3-0. Tom Pratt performed well against the quality opposition to finish third in front of Naracoorte’s Justin Reuter.
The Division 2 final was a quality match between Lauren McInerney and Alex Haydon who both have high Australian rankings and recently represented Australia in a test between New Zealand. McInerney is ranked 1 in South Australia and 2nd in Australia in U/15 girls while Haydon holds the number 1 ranking for both in U/13 girls. Both hail from Clare and have been playing each other for many years. The older McInerney had the edge this time playing some very impressive squash in front of the large crowd to win 3-0.
Divison 3 saw local youngster Braeden Ashworth come away with a win on his home court, winning 3-1 in the final against Naracoorte’s Matt Reuter. Ashworth beat Harry Ashwell from Adelaide and Millicent’s Gianni Giurstante, both 3-0 on his way to the final while Reuter downed Teagan Slekenics and Lachlan Mawson.
Division 4 was won by Ed Cameron from Adelaide over Harry Schinkel from Naracoorte 3-0 while Antonio Lo lacono, Ingle Farm and Mackenzie Varcoe Millicent finished third and fourth.
The Division 5 final was a great match between a couple of young up and coming players. Jack Lo lacono aged 10 from Adelaide was up against the local Jordan Ashworth aged 9. Lo lacono got the jump early, winning the first game before Ashworth won the second. Lo lacono went on to win the match 3-1 with both playing some impressive shots for their age.
Division 6 was won by Millicent’s Wil Bowering who has only taken up squash two months ago and was playing in his first tournament. He was able to win the final 3-0 over Naracoorte’s youngest player Aryan Madan who is only 7 and has a lot of talent for his age.
Seven players played their first tournament - Toby Hartmann, Jemma Hartmann, Wil Bowering, Taylor Allen, Ruben Tully, Ethan Bowman and Gianni Giurastante.
Div 1 Final – Alex Oswald (South Adelaide) def Sam Haydon (Largs Bay) – 11-5, 11-3, 11-4
Div 2 Final – Lauren McInerney (Clare) def Alex Haydon (Adelaide Malibu) – 11-7, 11-5, 11-7
Div 3 Final – Braeden Ashworth (Millicent) def Matt Reuter (Naracoorte) – 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 13-11
Div 4 Final – Ed Cameron (Penfield) def Harry Schinckel (Naracoorte) – 11-2, 11-8, 11-6
Div 5 Final – Jack Lo lacano (Ingle Farm) def Jordan Ashworth (Millicent) – 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-1
Div 6 Final – Will Bowering (Millicent) def Aryan Madan (Naracoorte) – 11-6, 11-3, 11-4
