Squash: Landers-Murphy leads Bay of Plenty to historic win

NUMBER ONE: The Bay of Plenty women's squash team have been crowned national champions for the first time since 1981. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

For the first time since Dame Susan Devoy led the team in 1981, the Bay of Plenty women's squash team are national champions.

The team was led by Rotorua's Amanda Landers-Murphy in Napier at the weekend. The current Bay of Plenty Player of the Year has just come off an exceptional World Doubles Championships where she defended her title with Joelle King.

Joanna Shanks (Tauranga), Camden Te Kani-McQueen (Rotorua) and Nadia Hubbard (Rotorua) completed the balanced Bay team that went into the event as top seeds. The team was coached by former professional player Kylie Lindsay, and managed by the experienced Michel Galloway.

First up the Bay had a comfortable win over Eastern with all four players enjoying a win. Round two was a matchup with Wellington and it was the same 4-0 result, which saw the team through to the familiar ground of the New Zealand inter-district teams final.

In the final Te Kani-McQueen faced a much higher ranked opponent in Auckland's Juee Bhide. After a tight first game which Te Kani-McQueen won 11-9, Bhide won the next two games comfortably.

After the third, coach Kylie Lindsay suggested Te Kani-McQueen "reassert herself and be more aggressive. The words sparked her into life forcing a fifth game with an 11-7 win in the fourth. The final game was all one-way traffic with Te Kani-McQueen blowing her opponent off the court 11-1 to give the Bay a fantastic start.

Long-time Bay player Joanna Shanks was next on court against one of New Zealand's rising stars Abbie Palmer.

"Jo fought very hard as she always does in a Bay shirt," said coach Kylie Lindsay.

"She played well and was unlucky not to claim at least one game". Auckland levelled the tie at 1-all with the 3-0 win.

Despite feeling the effects of illness, Landers-Murphy was solid in the next match, taking an important 3-0 win and setting up a fascinating final match.

It all came down to Nadia Hubbard, who needed to win at least two games to force a countback against Auckland's Priscilla Wildsmith. A win for Hubbard would seal it for the Bay.

Wildsmith looked confident from the outset, taking the first game 11-4. Hubbard looked to work her way back into the match in the second but was unable to convert, going down 12-14 but showing enough to give the Bay supporters some hope.

She took her game to another level and claimed a tight third game 11-9, meaning she needed the next one to at least force a countback for the title. Again she showed incredible determination to wear her opponent down, winning 11-8 in the fourth.

Her confidence, and the hopes of the team, were sky high and there was no looking back. She clinched the long-awaited title with a resounding 11-6 final game.

Cheryl Te Kani-McQueen was in the 1981 team that last won the title for the Bay and she was excited to be part of the supporters at the club.

"We are so proud of our girls. It means a lot to the Bay, especially those of us who have been involved and represented the Bay in the past," she said.

In the men's competition, Bay of Plenty finished fourth.