Cape Town, Western Cape: Northerns players Awande Malinga and Damian Groenewald were crowned South Africa’s junior squash champions when they claimed the U19 titles on the final day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Sunday.
The conclusion of the event saw winners in the U15 and U17 divisions also being decided in a celebration of squash which enabled the cream of the of the country’s juniors to compete at one of the most iconic venues in SA.
Groenewald was a deserving winner in the boys’ division, not dropping a game during the tournament and recording a solid 3-0 win over Seth Flisberg (WP) in Sunday’s final showdown.
Using his deft play in the front of the court and often putting his opponent under pressure with precision drives to the back, Groenewald romped through the first game 11-2.
Flisberg, who was the U17 runner-up a year ago, got back on par in the second, showing his skill as Groenewald mixed the good with the bad to allow the WP player to lead 8-6.
But just when Flisberg was poised to level the match, Groenewald managed to reassert his authority and took the game 11-8.
The third game was also closely contested until a few Flisberg errors allowed Groenewald to build a telling 9-6 lead, which he duly transformed into victory to complete a memorable week.
Malinga put the finishing touches to a dominant performance in Cape Town when she strode to her fourth straight games win, this time putting Joburg Squash’s Rachel Shannon to the sword 11-2 11-5 11-6.
The Northerns player got off to the best possible start and although Shannon never stopped trying, there was simply no way for her to stem the tide.
Connor Earl (Border) and Dene van Zyl (WP) were crowned the U17 boys’ and girls’ champions, with the former being forced to come from behind in the third game to clinch the title.
Up against Boland’s Devon Osborne, the Border player put himself in the driving seat by winning the first two games, but then trailed 10-7 in the third.
Had Osborne capitalised on that position, the momentum could have shifted, but Earl gritted his teeth and fought back with spirit to win the next five points for the title.
Van Zyl was dominant in the girls’ section and proved too good for KZN’s Cevana Naidoo in the title decider, winning 3-0.
Northerns player Elzandri Janse van Rensburg also had to work for her win in the girls’ U15 division against Makayla Naidoo (KZN).
She led 2-0 before Naidoo won the third to give her opponent something to think about, but Janse van Rensburg came back to emphatically take the fourth game 11-5.
The boys’ U15 title was more clearcut as Juan-Corne Brand (Northerns) was on top from the start against Boland’s Christian Swanepoel, winning 11-3 11-4 11-4.
The results were:
Girls
U15
Pool A: Elzandri Janse van Rensburg (Northerns) bt Makayla Naidoo (KZN) 3-1 (11-8 11-7 6-11 11-5), Kate van Biljon (Border) bt Starla Phillips (Northerns) 3-1 (11-6 11-3 11-13 11-5)
Pool B: Anushka van Rensburg (Northerns) bt Riley Slade (WP) 3-0 (11-2 11-5 11-8)
U17
Pool A: Dene van Zyl (WP) bt Cevana Naidoo (KZN) 3-0 (11-6 11-6 11-5), Cara Knott (Border) bt Bianke Pienaar (Joburg Squash) 3-2 (5-11 11-8 11-2 8-11 11-9)
Pool B: Anel Marais (Boland) bt Chante Leppan (Northerns) 3-1 (7-11 11-3 12-10 12-10)
U19
Pool A: Awande Malinga (Northerns) bt Rachel Shannon (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-2 11-5 11-6), Ashton Weir (Northerns) bt Nicola Bentley (KZN) 3-0 (12-10 11-8 11-7)
Pool B: Rebecca Glanvill (WP) bt Jeanne Craig (Northerns) 3-2 (6-11 11-8 6-11 11-1 11-9)
Boys
U15
Pool A: Juan-Corne Brand (Northerns) bt Christian Swanepoel (Boland) 3-0 (11-3 11-4 11-4), Benji Newman (EP) bt Thomas Boutall (WP) 3-0 (11-5 11-5 12-10)
Pool B: Juan van der Merwe (Border) bt Joseph Myers (Northerns) 3-0 (11-8-11-5 11-4),
U17
Pool A: Connor Earl (Border) bt Devon Osborne (Boland) 3-0 (11-8 11-5 12-10), Patrick Weir (Northerns) bt Hector Durbach (WP) 3-2 (7-11 11-8 11-4 8-11 11-7)
Pool B: Matthew Earl (Border) bt Judah Phillips (Northerns) 3-1 (11-8 9-11 11-5 11-8),
U19: Damian Groenewald (Northerns) bt Seth Flisberg (WP 3-0 (11-2 11-8 11-6), Nikhil Pather (KZN) bt Daniel Cloete (Boland) 3-2 (12-10 10-12 11-8 6-11 11-7)
Ends
FREE TO USE PICTURES
Captions:
Junior Nationals 2022 Awande Malinga left v Rachel Shannon: Northerns player Awande Malinga reaches for a forearm in her match against Rachel Shannon of Joburg Squash on the fourth day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Sunday. Malinga won 3-0 to take the U19 national girls’ title.
Junior National 2022 Damian Groenewald: Northerns player Damian Groenewald celebrates his win over WP’s Seth Flisberg on the fourth day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Sunday. Groenewald won 3-0 to take the U19 national boys’ title.
Picture credits: Carl Fourie
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