Celebrations in Canterbury squash circles after a major title drought was broken at the New Zealand Junior National Championships at the North Shore Club in Auckland.
The district has taken out the junior boys team title for the first time in more than 30 years, beating Auckland 3-1 in the final. The five strong line-up of Ed Dromgool, Paul Coll, Jarrod Beaumont, Andrew Ellis and Spencer Te Pou dropped just two matches in the entire competition, as they became just the second Canterbury team in history to take out the title. The last time the district won the event was in 1977, with a team that included Stuart Davenport who went on to win the US Open and was ranked in the top three in the world.
Meanwhile, Auckland has been similarly dominant in winning the junior girls team title. The powerful line-up of Lana Harrison, Crystal Tahata, Georgina Shelton-Agar, Catherine Graham and Taylor Flavell also dropped just two matches in the entire event, and downed Central 3-1 in the final.
Auckland was given a further boost, taking out the Gifford Cup, awarded to the district with the best combined results of its two teams.
Results
Boys final
Canterbury beat Auckland 3-1
Ed Dromgool beat Lance Beddoes 11-9, 11-9, 11-7
Paul Coll beat Josh McHugh 11-7, 11-7, 11-6
Jarrod Beaumont beat Michael Blanchard 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5
Andrew Ellis lost to Bradley Robinson 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 3-11, 13-15
Girls final
Auckland beat Central 3-1
Lana Harrison beat Amanda Landers-Murphy 11-3, 11-7, 11-6
Crystal Tahata lost to Danielle Fourie 5-11, 7-11, 6-11
Georgina Shelton-Agar beat Charvae McLean-Woon 11-3, 11-6, 11-1
Catherine Graham beat Brooke Dexter 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9
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© Squash NZ
