Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa:
Northerns colleagues Judah Phillips and Juan-Corne Brand have set themselves up on a collision course after victories on the third day of the Growthpoint SA Junior National Squash Championships at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Saturday.
Playing in the keenly contested U17 boys’ division, the pair registered 3-1 results over Hector Durbach and Louis le Riche respectively to set up a Sunday showdown to decide the U17 national champion.
Both players dropped the first games on Saturday, but they underlined their credentials by fighting back for solid victories and now face what should be a fascinating finale on the last day.
The girls U17 section was played over three pools in the initial stages, with the winners of each pool going through to the top section for another round-robin to decide the winner. Those players are Chante Leppan (Northerns), Cevana Naidoo (KZN) and Cara Knott (Border).
Leppan took a step towards the title when she defeated Knott in a tough five games, coming through 11-6 in the decider.
Elzandri Janse van Rensburg (Northerns) and Makayla Naidoo (KZN) have separated themselves from the rest in the girls’ U15 pool A and will meet on Sunday in the title decider.
Janse van Rensburg did not have it all her own way against Kate van Biljon (Border) on Saturday and dropped her first game of the tournament when she lost the third, but she regrouped to take the match 3-1, 11-9 in the fourth.
In the boys’ U15 division, Eden’s Christian Swanepoel has set himself up for the title by winning two of his three matches in pool A. His next challenge is against KZN’s Aiden McNeill on Sunday, where a third victory will secure him the title.
Defending girls’ U19 champion Awande Malinga (Northerns) saw off the challenge of North West’s Elske Garbers and will be the favourite to wrap up another title in her final match against Dene van Zyl (Boland) on Sunday.
In the boys’ U19 section, Seth Flisberg showed his determination to contend for the title with a solid win over Diodivine Mkhize of Joburg Squash in a late clash on Friday.
The Western Province player won 3-0 and is on course for a match with Northerns’ Luhann Groenewald in a possible Sunday clash to decide the winner.
Saturday’s third round early results were:
Girls
U15
Pool A: Elzandri Janse van Rensburg (Northerns) bt Kate van Biljon (Border) 3-1 (12-10 11-5 5-11 11-9), Makayla Naidoo (KZN) bt Starla Phillips (Northerns) 3-0 (11-6 11-5 11-4)
Pool B: Hanre Duits (Eden) bt Danika Theron (Eden) 3-0 (11-7 11-5 11-8)
U17: Chante Leppan (Northerns) bt Cara Knott (Border) 3-2 (5-11 11-4 11-7 7-11 11-6), Lucy Malherbe (WP) bt Brianna Robinson (Eastern Gauteng) 3-1 (11-8 7-11 11-4 11-8), Anke Garbers (Free State) bt Lia Viljoen (Boland) 3-1 (9-11 11-6 11-3 11-5)
U19
Pool A: Awande Malinga (Northerns) bt Elske Garbers (Northwest) 3-0 (11-4 11-9 11-7)
Pool B: Jordin Phillips (Northerns) bt Ashton Weir (Northerns) 3-1 (15-13 11-5 4-11 13-11), Nicola Bentley (KZN) bt Cailyn Nieuwoudt (WP) 3-1 (11-5 8-11 12-10 11-9)
Boys
U15
Pool A: Christian Swanepoel (Eden) bt Aiden McNeill (KZN) 3-0 (11-2 11-3 11-5), Milan Raffa (Northerns) bt Joseph Myers (Northerns) 3-0 (19-17 11-6 12-10)
U17
Pool A: Judah Phillips (Northerns) bt Hector Durbach (WP) 3-1 (9-11 11-6 11-3 11-5), Juan-Corne Brand (Northerns) bt Louis le Riche (Boland) 3-1 (8-11 11-4 11-4 11-3)
Pool B: Carel Fronemann (Northerns) bt Joel Rix (Free State) 3-2 (11-5 11-13 11-9 10-12 11-6), Russell Jones (Eastern Gauteng) bt Tilak Nana (KZN) 3-2 (9-11 11-6 9-11 17-15 11-6)
U19
Pool B: John Anderson (Joburg Squash) bt Bryce Blomquist (KZN) 3-0 (11-4 11-5 11-7), Frederik Botha (Northerns) bt Kobus van der Walt (Eden) 3-0 (11-5 13-11 11-2)
Ends
FREE TO USE PICTURE:
Caption:
Mkhize- Diodivine Mkhize of Joburg Squash, who represented the SA team in the recent World Junior Championships in Australia, went down 3-0 to Western Province’s Seth Flisberg in the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals in Cape Town on Friday.
Picture : supplied
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