SQUASH MEDIA RELEASE
FRIDAY, 29 AUGUST 2025
COMMINS, VAN NIEKERK SET TO DEFEND GROWTHPOINT SQUASH TITLES
- Teenager Luhann Groenewald shows his credentials in semis showdown
V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa: Defending men’s champion Dewald van Niekerk was the winner, but Northerns teenager Luhann Groenewald gave everyone a glimpse of the future of SA squash in a terrific semifinal’s showdown in the Growthpoint Nationals championships in Cape Town on Friday.
The SA Country Districts national No 1 held off a courageous challenge from the 19-year-old fourth seed, eventually winning 11-3 11-8 11-9 in a gruelling 37 minutes on the all-glass court at Makers Landing.
Van Niekerk kept his bid for a record-breaking fifth straight title on track, joining women’s titleholder Alex Commins of Western Province, who will be going for her sixth title overall, in the championship round.
The 28-year-old will face Damian Groenewald, elder brother of Luhann, in the final for the second year in a row, while Commins will be up against Eastern Province’s Hayley Ward, last year’s runner-up.
The younger Groenewald put up impressive resistance against the all-round skills and power play of Van Niekerk, but in the end, he just couldn’t manage to stay the pace against an opponent who has ruled the domestic scene for nearly five years.
The 21-year-old Damian Groenewald, seeded two, showed immense discipline against the experience of JP Brits, who was the Growthpoint national champion in 2019.
He was rewarded by keeping the ball to an immaculate length in a consistent display, marked by good decision-making which led a 3-0 victory (11-8 11-3 11-4).
Eventually the 34-year-old Brits was forced into trying for shots bordering on the risky and a few mistakes gave Groenewald an advantage he never relinquished.
“My focus today was to back up my performance from yesterday because I sometimes have struggled to string a couple of good matches together,” the Northerns player said.
“But today I kept my patience and felt I was able to hit the right shots at the right times, so I’m happy to reach another Growthpoint Nationals final.”
Commins gave a masterclass of precision shot making and attacking squash as she swept aside the challenge of seventh seed Kim McDonald for the loss of eight points.
Demonstrating why she rose to 22 in the world rankings during her pro career, Commins took the ball early, hardly made a mistake and kept her courageous opponent under relentless pressure.
“I think that every time you go onto the court you just want to be better than the last time, especially on this court where we are still trying to figure a few things out,” Commins said.
“Playing on the pro tour does toughen you up because you just have to find a way to get the job done.
“As the defending champion here, I know I have to keep driving yourself and you really can’t relax against any opponent.”
She swiftly built decisive leads in the first two games and while McDonald gave her best and challenged her in the third game, in reality the final outcome never seemed really in doubt.
Ward comfortably justified her top seeding with a positive display against Joburg Squash’s Teagan Russell to win 11-3 11-6 11-5.
“After yesterday’s game I just wanted to be more aggressive and positive, and I tried to inject some pace into my shots when I could,” the EP player said.
“So, I’m happy with how it turned out and now am just looking forward to going out to give it my best shot tomorrow.”
In the U15 girls’ division, top-seeded Rylee Howells of KwaZulu-Natal took a firm grip on pool A when she defeated Free State’s Jasmaine Rust in three games.
This follows her 3-1 win over WP’s Genevieve Lang on Thursday evening and one more victory will secure the Growthpoint national title.
The U15 boys’ A pool is going down to the wire and will be decided in the final matches on Saturday – Ashton Burger (EP) against Zander Smit (Boland), and Liam Fehrsen (EP) versus Codey Abrahams (Eden).
After two rounds, each player has won one match and lost one, so it will be decided on a count-out between the winners of Saturday’s matches.
Friday’s results were:
Seniors
Women
Semifinals
1-Hayley Ward (EP) bt 4-Teagan Russell (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-3 11-6 11-5), 3-Alex Commins (WP) bt 7-Kim McDonald (Northerns) 3-0 (11-1 11-1 11-6)
Pool 5-8
Helena Hudson (Northerns) bt Lara Patrick (Northerns) 3-1 (11-4 11-13 11-2 16-14), Alexa Pienaar (SACD) bt Shelomi Truter (SACD) 3-0 (11-6 11-8 11-8), Alexa Pienaar (SACD) bt Helena Hudson (Northerns) 3-0 (11-4 11-9 11-5), Lara Patrick (Northerns) bt Shelomi Truter (SACD) 3-0 (11-3 11-9 14-12).
Men
Semifinals
1-Dewald van Niekerk (SACD) bt 4-Luhann Groenewald (Northerns) 3-0 (11-3 11-8 11-9), 2-Damian Groenewald (Northerns) bt 3-JP Brits (SACD) 3-0 (11-8 11-3 11-4).
Pool 5-8
John Anderson (Joburg Squash) bt Luke van Vuuren (SACD) 3-1 (11-5 9-11 15-13 14-12), Reuel Videler (SACD) bt Jonty Matthys (SACD) 3-2 (9-11 11-9 10-12 11-2 11-9), John Anderson (Joburg Squash) bt Jonty Matthys (SACD) 3-0 (11-9 11-1 11-6), Reuel Videler (SACD) bt Luke van Vuuren (SACD) 3-1 (10-12 11-7 11-8 11-9)
U15
Girls
Pool 1-4
Rylee Howells (KZN) bt Jasmaine Rust (Free State) 3-0 (11-1 11-4 11-7), Genevieve Lang (WP) bt Alyssa Arcangeli (Northerns) 3-0 (11-8 11-5 11-8).
Pool 5-8
Nhlalala Masingi (Joburg Squash) bt Mienke Stander (Boland) 3-0 (11-6 11-6 11-9), Faatima Packery (EP) bt Hanja Gildenhuys (Eden) 3-2 (11-5 11-7 10-12 10-12 11-2).
Boys
Pool 1-4
Liam Fehrsen (EP) bt Ashton Burger (EP) 3-2 (9-11 11-4 11-7 3-11 11-9), Codey Abrahams (Eden) bt Zander Smit (Boland) 3-1 (11-3 9-11 11-8 11-4).
Pool 5-8
Milton Posthumus (WP) bt Tiaan Goosen (Northerns) 3-1 (11-4 9-11 11-6 11-4), Jeremy John (KZN) bt George Hung (Free State) 3-0 (11-9 12-10 11-4).
Ends
Squash Growthpoint SA Nationals google information hub: https://shorturl.at/L2lbh
FREE TO USE PICTURES WITH CAPTIONS
Alex Commins- Alex Commins of Western Province plays a backhand during her 3-0 win over Northerns player Kim McDonald in the semifinals of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Friday. Commins won 11-1 11-1 11-6.
Damian Semis- Damian Groenewald of Northerns reaches for a backhand during his 3-0 win over SA Country Districts player JP Brits in the semifinals of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Friday. Groenewald won 11-8 11-3 11-4.
Hayley Ward- Hayley Ward of Eastern Province in action during her 3-0 win over Joburg Squash player Teagan Russell in the semifinals of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Friday. Ward won 11-3 11-6 11-5.
Dewald van Niekerk- Dewald van Niekerk of SA Country Districts in action during his 3-0 win over Northerns player Luhann Groenewald in the semifinals of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Friday. Van Niekerk won 11-3 11-8 11-9.
Picture credit: Petri Oeschger/Gallo Images