8 year old Ollie Coulcher-Porter takes 4th place in his first County Tournament
Last weekend 27/28th September 2014, little Ollie Coulcher-Porter continued to make his intentions clear on the squash world.
Ollie is just 8 years old but he is aiming big.
Following up his E grade win in the Racquets Open Graded Squash Tournament the previous weekend, Ollie entered the Under 11s Oxfordshire County Closed Tournament held at Abingdon Squash Club.
Oliver’s first match of 3 games was against Rory Richmond who is Number 22 in the Great Britain rankings under 11.
Oliver started off well and at one stage was leading but his opponent’s excellent serve and experience helped him to win eventually in straight games.
After a period of dejection between matches, Oliver harnessed his determination to win his next 2 matches in straight games dropping only a few points on the way.
This combination of results placed him into the Under 11s semi-finals.
Oliver drew the Great Britain ranked number 11 in the semi-final. Oliver managed to gain a meaningful no of points from this opponent and kept a stiff upper lip throughout.
His opponent, Luke Perkins, ultimately won the tournament.
Oliver went through to play the 3/4th play-off which was an exciting match between Oliver and Oxford’s Number 1 Under 9 Felix Loeffen. The match went to 5 sets. It was neck and neck and had a crowd of people watching intrigued by this match of the 2 youngest members of the whole tournament. Felix edged the match 3-2.
Oliver’s mum, Jane, said ‘We are so proud of Ollie who is extremely keen and highly competitive and to come 4th in his first tournament outside of Racquets is an indication of the work that he has put in for the past year.’
The coaches of the boys have promised that these two will meet again regularly to have friendly competitive matches in order to create a friendly rivalry that will hopefully last for many many years.
Ollie’s performance, along with Ben Hedger (Under 17 champion) and Nick Harbour (Under 15 champion), is testament to the junior coaching available at Racquets Fitness Centre where juniors can learn the game on 4 days of the week in public groups and private coaching which can work around school commitments.
