SQUASH - Praise from the best for up-and-coming star Pou-Tito

Attracting the attention of the New Zealand number one Shelley Kitchen put the gloss on a great tournament for talented Mangakahia squash player Sacha Pou-Tito in Auckland recently.
Before Kitchen beat Jackie Laurenson in three sets to win the women's open title at the Remuera Open she had the chance to watch some of the B1 final, which featured the teenage Pou-Tito in action.
While the 15-year-old only got a quick congratulations from her hero as she left the court, at least she knows that the New Zealand number-one has watched her play and Pou-Tito hopes to attract her attention with her performances on court again. Kitchen was obviously impressed by the 15-year-old in her match against Karen Michalakis and when asked about her was pointed to Pou-Tito's mother Debbie, who was a spectator in the gallery.
Pou-Tito said she was surprised to see who her mum was talking to.
"My Mum was talking to her for ages, she wanted to know who I was and where I was from, I think she was surprised I played for Mangakahia," Pou-Tito said.
Pou-Tito has been attracting a lot of attention this season with the improvement in the quality of her squash.
At Remuera she beat number-one seed Norida Perry 3-0 in their second round clash, before beating the number-two seed Michalakis 3-1, to take out the title.
"I really didn't expect to win, I was only eighth seed and I still ended up taking it out."
"I'm not sure why this year's results are going so well, I'm just really focused at the moment and I'm playing good-as," she said.
This weekend pou-Tito leads a group of Northlanders to Auckland to attend the New Zealand Junior Championships at North Shore Squash Club. Scott Lewis, Shontelle Goodhew, Josh Thomas, Daniel and Tegan Notton as well as Kurt and Matt Davies are some of the other Northland hopefuls at the event.
The tournament is not an age group championship but instead is a graded event, meaning Tito-Pou will again have to play in the Girls Division One event, rather than among the top-16 graded female players - at least until her grading status catches up with her actual ability.
With a swag of grading points coming her way after the Remuera victory, Pou-Tito hopes to make B1 status when the next gradings are released by Squash NZ.
Apart from Kitchen, who plays here rarely, there is only one other female player ranked above Pou-Tito in Northland, so it is very hard for her to earn points, and therefore achieve higher grades without travelling. Instead she plays boys who are her level or better and improves that way.
Rather than bemoan the system, Pou-Tito wants to succeed internationally and emulate her hero Kitchen.
"That's one of my long-term goals, to play squash all around the world like she does," Pou-Tito said.