SQUASH - Matson takes the country's top u-17 ranking

Northland's Tate Matson is settling back to enjoy the view after becoming the No 1 squash player in his age group in the country and now the challenge is to remain there until the next junior world championships in 2010.
"I've always been up in the top two or three but it's good to finally make No 1," he said.
Matson beat Lance Beddoes of Auckland in the U-17 final of the New Zealand age-group championships in Palmerston North last weekend, winning in convincing fashion over the No 1 seed, three games to one.
But there was perhaps even better news for the 16-year-old Matson, when he was named at the top of the list this week in the national junior boys training squad for the world junior championships in 2010.
The Mangakahia junior joins club mate Sacha Pou-Tito in the national elite squad after she finished sixth in the women's under-17 competition in Palmerston North. The New Zealand junior girls squad will train toward selection for the 2009 world championships in Chennai, India.
Matson believes that his improved attitude to training is responsible for taking his game to the next level.
Matson and Pou-Tito both attend Whangarei's School of Emerging Talent (SET) and Matson believes his time at the school has helped his squash.
"Going to SET this year has helped me to spend more time on the court and at the gym and just my general fitness with running and everything really," he said.
Training with one of the country's best has also helped.
"I've done a lot more training this year and every Wednesday night I've been going down to Auckland to train with Martin Knight [the New Zealand No 2]," he said.
He has been sharing the driving with fellow squash player Scott Lewis, who also trains with Knight, and Matson said the effort has been worth it.
Matson still has a week before he has to decide one way or the other whether he will join the squad but at the moment he is leaning towards joining, despite the time commitment. There are five camps to attend before April, with one camp a single day and the rest ranging from three to five days.
The under-17 No 1 has dreams of getting on to the world professional circuit but he isn't getting ahead of himself. "Most squash players peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so I'd probably want to go to university first and see what happens after that," he said.
His plans for next year are uncertain but he will but probably complete another year at SET.