Thame junior squash players surpass themselves at Racquets Graded Squash Tournament
THAME JUNIOR SQUASH PLAYERS SURPASS THEMSELVES AT RACQUETS GRADED SQUASH TOURNAMENT
The Racquets Graded squash tournament was held at Racquets Fitness Centre in Thame on the weekend of 17th-19th April.
The club was very proud to see their up and coming juniors given the chance to showcase their skills.
Josh Franklin who has only been playing 8 weeks actually won the boys event. His rapid improvement aided by the fact that he was a regular participant of the successful Easter Squash Camps that Racquets ran over the school holidays.
Sue Martin-Downhill, Josh’s coach said “I am so happy to see Josh coming through to win all of his matches. He is such a pleasure to coach, he listens to what I tell him and immediately does it!” Other close competitors in this event were James Wood, Ollie Coulcher-Porter, Evan Littler and Jamie Mather.
William John, the club professional added “It is so inspiring to see these young players competing against each other and really enjoying their squash matches. They were all trying so hard to perform their best and it was such a pleasure to be involved with,” He also stressed “Whilst everyone wants to win here at Racquets we really try and educate everyone the importance of fair play and how to win and lose in the appropriate way. Whilst winning is obviously important there is an art to being able to lose, take on board the improvements you need to make and at the same time staying positive and optimistic.”
The younger boys’ event saw Fionn Leaney coming through to win his tournament, but there was very close competition from Chris Watts and Finlay Wright who both performed extremely well. These 3 boys who are all friends and play regularly at Thame’s local squash club and gym.
And then there was the girls’ event which was one of the closest tournaments held over the weekend. The winner Zoe Martin-Downhill managed to fend of Catherine Fotherby and Emily Withey, both daughters of the squash world record holders at Racquets Fitness Centre.
Zoe’s proud father and manager of the club commented “As parents, it was a wonderful weekend to see our children competing and excelling at a sport they love. I have always had a passion for squash and to see my daughter share that same passion is something special”.
The young winners of each event had beaming smiles when they were handed their prizes of a brand new Pointfore racket, made possible by the sponsor Trevor Cox Motors.
Another particularly noteable grade in the tournament was the Mixed E grade in which Tanya Wright (Finlay’s mum) reached the final losing narrowly to visitor Jess Thorne. New players Neil Shorter and Mark Owen played in the 3rd/4th play-off. Mark has been playing squash for about 3 months ! Our tournaments really are great competition and fun for all standards.
Overall it was a very successful weekend at Racquets Fitness centre with lots of kids and adults coming together and playing squash in the great spirit that it should be. The team at Racquets Fitness Centre are actively encouraging more and more kids and new adults to play squash in the local community with John Hampden, Barley Hill and St Joseph’s schools coming to squash courses throughout the year.
