Te Awamutu Squash Club Women's B team. Photos / Supplied
Te Awamutu Squash Club Women's B team. Photos / Supplied
Te Awamutu Squash Club is abuzz after a triumphant start to the 2021 interclub season, with three women's and three men's teams securing division wins in Waikato's Autumn Interclub series.
In the women's series, Te Awamutu formed a formidable presence, with the club fielding a team within each of the seven divisions.
In total, 42 women represented the club across the series; the most ever for the club. Division winners included the Women's A, C and F teams, with the B and D teams finishing runners-up.
Te Awamutu Squash Club Women's F team.
In particular, the Women's A team had a stellar final with the team's top four all securing match wins against a strong Morrinsville side.
An impressive finish to the series in which they were unbeaten on their way to being crowned winners of Division 1 for the third time in the club's history and first since 1997 - a fitting reward for a group of players who have dedicated considerable time to the sport.
Likewise, strong performances and big wins were needed by the Women's B team to secure their narrow Division 3 victory against a strong Te Kūiti B team, who were also unbeaten heading into their final's match up against the Te Awamutu side.
Nevertheless, the Women's B team kept cool heads to finish the night winners by one game point, after tying the matches 2-2.
In Division 6, the Women's F run to the top was bittersweet, with the team winning their final by default with the withdrawal of their opposition, after finishing their regular season top of the table.
In the men's series, Te Awamutu were equally impressive with three out of the six men's teams claiming division wins.
Most impressive was the dominant performance by the Men's B team who only dropped one match in all six weeks of competition play and claimed victory in their Division 3 final with four commanding match wins against the Taupiri B team to remain unbeaten as a team in the competition.
The road to the top was not as easy for the Men's C and D teams, with both teams claiming narrow victories by game countbacks after drawing their matches 2-2 on the night.
Te Awamutu Squash Club Men's D team.
The Men's C team had to pull out all stops to claim their come-from-behind victory over a strong Paeroa side after finding themselves two matches down at the start of the night. Nevertheless, a dominant performance from the team's top seed Mark Seager saw the team back in contention heading into the final match.
This relief was short lived when the team quickly found themselves two games down in the decider. With much determination and a small turn of fortune, the 4th seed Chris McKinley rallied to finish strongly in order to claim the match and team win in a tough five-setter.
The Men's D team had a close encounter in their final against a well matched Ruakura team, who finished the regular season first equal with Te Awamutu side.
With two tough five-set losses and team match scores 2-2 on the night, it was the strong 3-0 match wins by the team's second and fourth seed players that helped seal the team's countback victory to claim the Division 6 title.
