Josh Thom won the Northland Squash Open yesterday and the Auckland teenager has also made himself available for Northland for the New Zealand nationals in two weeks time in Palmerston North. Northland Squash CEO Peter Gearing is happy to have the New Zealand under-19 champion on the playing roster and hewill slot in as the new No.1 at the tournament. "Our criteria allows him to play for us because his family is from Matauri Bay, and he played for us about four years ago as well," Gearing said. Thom beat the former No.1, Mangakahia's Brent Lewis, in the final of the open 9-5, 9-6, 9-7 at the Whangarei Squash Club yesterday, to underline his value to the team. Lewis will play at No.2 in Palmerston North while the two other Northland spots are filled by Mangakahia's Tate Matson and Scott Lewis. Thom, at 18, is already a veteran of top level competition, having travelled internationally to world youth tournaments but he said his aim right now is simply to enjoy the game. "I'm playing because I'm enjoying it at the moment, if I push myself too much I might get sick of it. "I've done that before and stopped playing and I don't want to do it again," he said. Thom said the possibility of playing professionally in the future is attractive but right now he's just trying to adapt to the change from entering the workforce fulltime. "At school you've got a lot of time on your hands but when you're working, you're pretty knackered when you get home," he said. "Right now I'm only playing once or twice a week but a couple of months ago I was playing twice a day and that's when I was playing my best." Playing against mates makes it easier and that's one of the reasons he decided to play for Northland. "I'm good mates with Connor and Tate (Matson) through squash and I thought it would be a good idea to play for Northland in the senior and junior nationals," he said. Gisborne's Holly Donnelly beat Mangakahia's Sacha Pou-Tito in the final of the women's competition in straight sets.
