Waipu's Abbie Palmer showcased why she has been included in the New Zealand Under-19 team by claiming the Ladies Open Division title at the Northland Open Squash Tournament in Whangarei.
The 13-year-old Bream Bay College student was recently selected for the NZ junior team, and is the youngest ever to beselected for the junior side, who leave for Boston on July 15 to contest the Under-19 World Championships.
Her inclusion in the team came on the back of an intense 18 months of training and competition, where Palmer achieved some exceptional results, including her most recent 3-0 win over the Northland-based player Sacha Pou-Tito on Sunday.
While Palmer trains and plays most of her squash in Auckland, she stayed up north this weekend to compete at the Northland Open at Whangarei Squash Courts.
More than 100 competitors from Kaitaia and Northland, as well as players from Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Auckland turned out for the annual event, where some impressive games were battled out on the courts.
While Palmer was using the Open - along with the senior nationals at Hamilton this coming weekend - as a last-minute build-up to her World Championships campaign, it was the pinnacle event for many local competitors.
Meanwhile, Brent Lewis earned the Men's Open title after defeating former New Zealand representative Susan Devoy's son Alex Oakley, 3-1. Devoy's three sons were in action at the Open Tournament, as well as her husband John.
Squash Northland's Sharon Crawford said the event was a great success, with competitive matches contested throughout the divisions.
"We were down a little on numbers from last year but still very happy with the turnout.
"There was plenty of promising local talent playing, with 10 from the 13 Northland clubs represented. And it was nice to see people coming north who were competing up here for the first time," Crawford said.
The Northland Masters is the next big tournament on the calendar for locals, and they will be held at Kamo Squash Club in two weeks, while the Northland Junior Squash Tournament - part of the NZ Junior Player Series is on September 2-4 at Whangarei Squash Courts.
