Numbers peak for nationals

Squash is certainly showing great support and strength in the north with 22 juniors heading down to Rotorua last weekend for the North Island Junior Age Group Championships.

This tournament drew the most players for more than five years with over 190 players participating from the under 19 to under 11 age groups.

Six of these Northland juniors are in the top 20 of the North Island and 14 players are in the top 10 for their age groups.

Tyler Ranger, formerly from Rotorua and now playing for Northland, was the fourth seed in the under 19 boys.

He took out the championship on the back of a huge five-set semifinal against top seed Matthew Lucente. He won the final against Southland's Mitchell Kempton in straight sets.

Freddie Jameson and Flynn Venmore, who are fellow Manaia club members and also cousins, played off for the under 11 boys championship. Jameson won.

Kamo's Chelsea Trail did extremely well to place third in the under 11 girls Championship, having a close five-set battle in her semifinal against Auckland's Maia Smales. She went on to win her third and fourth play-off.

The other outstanding result for the weekend was Devlin Gurr, who was seeded 18th for the under 15 boys. He improved his seeding to 9th with some great battles.