Cape Town, Western Cape: Boland’s Devon Osborne had to dig deep to fight his way out of a tight spot as he outlasted Patrick Weir of Northerns in their U17 boys’ clash in the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Saturday.
The event, which includes U15 and U19 divisions for boys and girls, will conclude on Sunday when the final clash takes place at 3pm between U19 contenders Damian Groenewald (Northerns) and Seth Flisberg (WP).
After his win on Friday over Hector Durbach (WP), Osborne was fighting to stay in the hunt for the title when he faced Weir in their midday clash on the all-glass court.
He drew first blood in a tight first game which he won 11-9, but then failed to press home his advantage and Weir fought back in courageous style to take a telling 2-1 lead.
The fortunes for both players continued to fluctuate in the fourth, but Osborne crucially took it 11-8 and extended his domination into the decider, which he won 11-4.
That result allowed him to keep an unbeaten record, setting up a decider against the impressive Connor Earl of Border. Earl has yet to lose a game in the tournament but knows that he cannot drop his guard against Osborne.
The girls’ U19 division again showcased the skills of Northerns star Awande Malinga as she continued her march to the title with a 3-0 win over provincial colleague Ashton Weir.
Malinga was the runner-up in the U17 final a year ago to Savannah Ingledew and it will take a huge effort by Rachel Shannon (Joburg Squash) to stop her from taking it a step further this year on Sunday.
The U19 boys’ division is being contested over a straight round-robin and Flisberg moved closer to a final showdown with Groenewald when he comfortably won his third straight match, overcoming Nikhil Pather (KZN) 3-0.
He and the Northerns top seed are set for a collision course when the tournament’s grand finale takes place at 3pm on Sunday.
WP’s Dene van Zyl will be looking to protect an unbeaten record on Sunday in the girls’ U17 section when she finishes her programme against Cevana Naidoo (KZN).
She eased past Cara Knott (Border) in three games on Saturday, while Naidoo gave herself a chance by recording a hard-earned 3-1 win over Bianke Pienaar (Joburg Squash).
The boys’ U15 division will be decided when the only two unbeaten players, Christian Swanepoel (Boland) and Juan-Corne Brand (Northerns), go head-to-head on Sunday.
It will be a similar situation in the girls’ division, with both Elzandri Janse van Rensburg (Northerns) and Makayla Naidoo (KZN) taking winning records into Sunday’s showdown.
The results were:
Girls
U15
Pool A: Elzandri Janse van Rensburg (Northerns) bt Kate van Biljon (Border) 3-1 (8-11 11-2 11-4 11-5), Makayla Naidoo (KZN) bt Starla Phillips (Northerns) 3-0 (11-1 11-3 11-7)
Pool B: Rebecca Vos (Boland) bt Amy Shannon (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-7 11-2 11-8), Anusha van Rensburg (Northerns) bt Amy Shannon (Joburg Squash) 3-1 (11-4 9-11 11-8 11-3), Rebecca Vos (Boland) bt Riley Slade (WP) 3-0 (11-1 11-2 11-4)
U17
Pool A: Dene van Zyl (WP) bt Cara Knott (Border) 3-0 (11-4 11-2 11-8), Cevana Naidoo (KZN) bt Bianke Pienaar (Joburg Squash) 3-1 (11-6 11-7 11-13 11-5)
Pool B: Sasha Earl (Border) bt Chante Leppan (Northerns) 3-1 (8-11 12-10 11-5 11-8), Anel Marais (Boland) bt Namratha Niranjan (Northerns) 3-0 (11-3 11-6 11-2)
U19
Pool A: Awande Malinga (Northerns) bt Ashton Weir (Northerns) 3-0 (11-2 11-5 11-6), Nicola Bentley (KZN) bt Rachel Shannon (Joburg Squash) 3-1 (11-8 11-3 10-12 11-6)
Pool B: Erin Powers (EP) bt Jeanne Craig (Northerns) 3-0 (12-10 13-11 11-3), Rebecca Glanvill (WP) bt Stephanie Jones (Easterns) 3-0 (11-8 11-5 11-6)
Boys
U15
Pool A: Juan-Corne Brand (Northerns) bt Thomas Boutall (WP) 3-0 (11-3 11-4 11-6), Christian Swanepoel (Boland) bt Benji Newman (EP) 3-2 (11-4 3-11 11-7 6-11 12-10)
Pool B: Joseph Myers (Northerns) bt Savuta Nkuna (Joburg Squash) 3-1 (13-11 11-3 8-11 11-3), Juan van der Merwe (Border) bt Aiden McNeill (KZN) 3-2 (3-11 11-6 9-11 12-10 11-7), Aiden McNeill (KZN) bt Savuta Nkuna (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-6 11-5 11-5)
U17
Pool A: Connor Earl (Border) bt Hector Durbach (WP) 3-0 (11-3 11-5 11-9), Devon Osborne (Boland) bt Patrick Weir (Northerns) 3-2 (11-9 10-12 9-11 11-8 11-4)
Pool B: Judah Phillips (Northerns) bt Russell Jones (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-3 11-6 11-2), Matthew Earl (Border) bt Matt Mason (KZN) 3-0 (11-1 11-8 18-16)
U19: Seth Flisberg (WP) bt Nikhil Pather (KZN) 3-0 (11-6 11-5 11-3), Diodivine Mkhize (Joburg Squash) bt Daniel Cloete (Boland) 3-0 (11-2 11-7 11-6)
Ends
FREE TO USE PICTURE
Caption
Junior Nationals 2022 Devon Osborne left v Patrick Weir: Boland’s Devon Osborne, left, plays an overhead in his match against Northerns’ Patrick Weir on the third day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Saturday. Osborne won 3-2.
Picture credits: Carl Fourie
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