JUNIOR SQUASH RANKING TOURNAMENT
The first ever junior squash ranking tournament was held recently at the Marsa Sports Club.
Juniors from across the island were invited to come and take part and a small group found their way to the air-conditioned courts at Marsa to test their playing skills agianst one another.
Kim Cauchi, fresh from her success in the Luxembourg Junior Open was the clear favourite and the other juniors relished the opportunity to play against the in-form junior in Malta.
Kim played composed throughout the day without dropping a single game in any of her 6 matches.
The battle for second and third place was decided between Adrian Farrugia and Nick Falzon.
Adrian powered his way to a straight games victory but not without some excellent play from young Nick.
A special prize was awarded to the ‘fairest player of the day’. Each junior was able to choose their own favourite player and their vote went to Aleandro Mifsud.
Next month the Marsa Squash Section will be starting yet another first for junior squash in Malta.
A junior squash league will commence allowing the juniors the chance to play regular matches.
The winner of the junior league will be promoted to the senior league giving the winner the opportunity to play some tough matches against some of the senior players.
The next junior ranking event will be held at the Marsa Sports Club on Saturday 30th June.
JUNIOR SQUASH RANKINGS – May 2012
Points / Events played
- Kim 68.75 1
- Adrian 50.00 1
- Nick 40.00 1
- Sam 25.00 1
- Daniel 22.00 1
- Aleandro 17.50 1
- Maria 15.00 1
Next ranking event Saturday 30th June at Marsa
To enter this tournament or for any further information regarding the rankings please do not hesitate to contact PAUL paul@maltasquashacademy.com or 7900 3053
Creditable 9th place for Kimberley Cauchi
in the Swiss Junior Squash Open
Kimberly Cauchi won 2 out of her 5 matches in the Girls Under 13 section of the Swiss Junior Squash Open held in Zurich [December 2011], to finish 9th overall.
The Swiss Junior Squash Open is a European Squash Federation Super Series Ranking Event. Over 240 juniors from 28 nations took part in the largest junior squash event ever to be held in Switzerland.
Kim’s first match was against Kristína Šmičková, a Slovakian girl ranked no 9 in Europe. Kim started nervously and made several unforced errors in the first set, but then fought bravely in the next 3 sets. In the end the experience of Kristína was the deciding factor with the young Slovakian able to stay calm at crucial points and in the end take a deserved but hard fought win 3-1. [3-11 / 11-8 / 8-11 / 9-11]
The next opponent was Alina Bushma [Ukraine] ranked no 13 in Europe. The two girls were evenly matched up to 8-8 in the final set when 2 unforced errors and a well timed forehand drop sealed the match for Alina 3-2. [11-5 / 3-11 / 11-8 / 5-11 / 8-11]
The third day of the tournament showed Kim in her best form.
Against Maelle Fuhrer [France] Kim played some of her best squash with every point closely contested and although the final score was a 3-0 victory for Kim the match score of 14-12 / 13-11 / 11-6 shows that this game could have gone either way.
Kim’s fourth opponent was Yuna Loaec [France]
With the confidence boost from the days earlier match Kim showed that she has the potential to challenge the top 20 players in Europe with only the first set being close. The final score was an excellent 3-0 victory against the number 16 in Europe. [12-10 / 11-3 / 11-5]
The final match for Kim was against Denisa Rohunová from the Czech Republic [ranked no 11 in Europe], which Kim lost closely 2-3. [6-11 / 11-8 / 6-11 / 11-5 / 5-11]
As the tournament play offs were played on a ‘round robin’ basis, the 2 sets against Denisa were enough for Kim to secure overall 9th place, an excellent result in only her 3rd overseas competition and this should see her climbing up the European rankings into the top 30 for the first time.
Conclusion: Kim played 5 tough opponents, 4 of which are ranked in the top 16 in Europe. Experience was the deciding factor in most of the games Kim lost. Without continual support and the opportunity to compete overseas the gap will remain making progress in the rankings extremely difficult.
Kim is supported by the Marsa Sports Club, coached by Paul Lake, sponsored by Wilson, and is a member of the Marsa Sports Club Junior Squash Development Programme.
Rising squash star Kimberley Cauchi faced Denisa Rohunova from the Czech Republic in the first round of the under-13 Polish Junior Squash Open in Warsaw.
Rohunova, ranked number 14 in Europe, was a tough test for the Maltese youngster. Kim put in a good all-round performance but the experience of Rohunova showed in the end with the Maltese youngster losing in four close games 11-4 / 6-11 / 8-11 / 11-13.
The next two matches for Kim proved to be even tougher. Both Alina Bushma and Nadiya Usenko from the Ukraine were not ranked in Europe before this event, but the two girls marched through the tournament to set up an all Ukrainian girls final, with Usenko claiming her first Polish Junior Open title 11:6, 11:5, 10:12, 9:11, 11:7.
Kim performed well against Bushma and Usenko but lost to both girls 0-3. The Ukrainian Squash Federation has put in a lot of hard work over the last years developing and supporting junior squash and the results are clearly showing.
Following the group format system Kim faced Denisa Rohunova from the Czech Republic once again for the third and fourth place play-off match. The Maltese youngster got off to a good start taking the first game 11-8 but once again the experience of Rohunova, ranked number 14 in Europe, started to show from the middle of the second game. Rohunova changed the pace of the game and altered her tactics slightly unsettling Cauchi who did not have the experience to respond. Rohunova took the match and so third place 8-11, 11-7, 11- 5, 11-9
Kim only started playing squash last year and has progressed through the Marsa Squash Section Junior Development Programme at an impressive rate, but to be able to compete with the rapidly improving juniors from other countries she will require many such events to gain more experience and valuable match practice against overseas players.
Other European countries are putting a lot of effort, time and resources into junior squash development and its vital for the future of squash in Malta to make sure that here we do the same.
At the end of the tournament Kim had gained valuable experience playing against some top European competition, made some new friends and is happy that after forging new friendships Alina Bushma will be coming to visit Malta later this year for a squash & holiday vacation.
(from left Nadiya Usenko, Alina Bushma and Kim)
Thanks go to the Marsa Sports Club and the Marsa Squash Section, without whose support Kim’s participation in Poland would not have been possible. Kim is a member of the Marsa Squash Section Junior Development Programme and is sponsored by Wilson.
Clean sweep for Marsa Squash Section juniors at the BelBin 2011 Malta Junior Squash Open
All 3 National Junior Titles won by juniors from the Marsa Squash Section
In the under-17 category Colette Sultana won her 5th consecutive national title adding to her impressive victories in previous years. Colette dominated her matches in her usual authoritative manner and was able to control her opponents throughout.
Ryan Rizzo, returning to the court for the first time in many months, was equally impressive in the under-15 category. Ryan, like Colette, was part of the MARSA JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT SCHEME when he started playing squash, and was the one to entice cousin Colette to the game. Ryan won all his matches comfortably to take the National under-15 title.
Young Kimberley Cauchi only started playing squash last year and has progressed through the MARSA JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT SCHEME at an impressive rate. Kimberley showed good composure and control throughout and managed to win her matches without dropping a game to take her first national title in the under-13 category.
Following in the footsteps of Colette, Kimberly has already taken part in a European ranking tournament and will be participating later this month in her 2nd event, the Polish Junior Open.
EXCELLENT TURNOUT FOR MARSA SQUASH SECTION ‘MINI-SQUASH’ OPEN DAY
The Marsa Squash Section recently held a ‘Mini-squash’ Open day for children aged 7-13 years. The turnout was very good with 23 juniors turning up to try their hand at the various skills involved in playing squash.
Marsa coach Paul Lake, responsible for the organisation and running of the Mini-squash programme at Marsa, explained that ‘Mini-squash’ is the correct way for children to learn and develop all the necessary coordination skills required to play racket sports at a later stage. The methods used revolve around the ‘A – B – Cs’ of sport (Agility – Balance – Coordination). After the ‘A-B-C’ sessions, the children then move on to squash-specific exercises. At Marsa we have a ‘1 coach per court’ approach, maintaining maximum supervision at all times. The children respond very well to the ‘Mini-squash’ programme and it’s great to see them improving all the time. Children that do not develop the correct coordination skills, and move on too early to racket and ball exercises, usually fail to develop certain aspects of the correct coordination required later for the more detailed racket skills. ‘Mini-squash’ has been developed by a large number of professional squash coaches and experts in various fields over the past years and has successfully been introduced to most of the leading squash countries worldwide.”
Squash section Chairman Mr Charles Cuschieri was pleased with the turnout and the continued progress of the ‘Mini-squash’ programme at Marsa. Mr Cuschieri: “over the last 6 months we have seen a steady increase in juniors attending the section’s junior squash programme.
Thanks to the excellent organisation and the efforts of all the coaches involved the standard of the juniors is getter better all the time. With Kimberley Cauchi we now have a second junior taking part in European ranking tournaments and I am confident that, with Paul’s guidance, very soon we will see more juniors from the Marsa programme joining Kimberley and Colette on the European circuit.”
AUSTRIAN JUNIOR SQUASH OPEN 2011 – GOOD PERFORMANCES FOR COLETTE SULTANA AND KIMBERLY CAUCHI IN VIENNA
Colette Sultana continued her progress in Europe with a well deserved 5th place at the 2011 Austrian Junior Open in Vienna. Sultana managed to win 3 of her 4 matches, losing only to the Hungarian Csenge Kiss-Mate 7-11, 13-15, 13-15 in 3 very close games.
The Maltese Junior champion faced stiff opposition from the emerging players from Eastern Europe with tough matches against Sabina Mozina,
Slovenia, Barbora Krejcova, Czech Republic and Gabriella Csokasi, Hungary. Sultana remained focused throughout and was able to secure 3 excellent victories and gain valuable points that could see her moving into the top 20 in the under-17 European rankings.
Kimberly Cauchi, playing in her first tournament outside Malta, put in a very good performance in all of her games. Cauchi lost 2 very close matches against Veronika Bendova and Karin Velicka, both Slovakia. Against the number 1 seed Kristyna Fialova, Czech Republic, Cauchi was able to see how much work is required to be able to compete at this level. Cauchi fought well but was unable to trouble her opponent loosing 3-0.
In her final match Cauchi played extremely well to defeat Julia Potoczka, Slovakia 3-0 to finish 7th overall. Playing against older and more experienced players Cauchi showed that she has true potential and given the correct support is one to watch in the future.
Marsa coach Paul Lake accompanied the two youngsters in Vienna and was pleased with the overall performance.
Lake commented “given the lack of opportunity that Kim has had to take part in junior events she performed extremely well. Colette put in a solid performance but is now in a much tougher age group and needs to put in more work off-court to be able to physically compete in the under-17 age category.”
MARSA JUNIORS IN VIENNA FOR EUROPEAN SQUASH RANKING TOURNAMENT
Colette Sultana and Kimberley Cauchi will be taking part in the Austrian Junior Squash Open from the 4th-6th March at the Club Danube, Erdberg, Vienna. This will be the first European ranking tournament for Cauchi and the same event where Sultana started her junior career in March2007.
Marsa Squash Section Chairman Mr. Charles Cuschieri praised the efforts of the two juniors commenting that “no funding or support was available for juniors to participate in overseas events so the two girls decided to arrange a tournament to raise funds to cover their expenses for this event, an excellent initiative” Mr. Cuschieri also thanked Gordon Asciak from Wilson for their continued support of Junior Squash at Marsa.
The two players will be accompanied in Vienna by Marsa Coach Paul Lake who has been responsible for the coaching and development of both juniors. Lake “the Austrian Junior Squash Open is a good starting point. It’s a decent standard and gives Kim the chance to test herself against some of the leading players in Europe. Lake added “the standards have improved a lot since Colette started, and the competition will be tough, but that’s why we are going. Most of all I’ll be monitoring Kims performance as at this stage of her development results are not important, more of an added bonus, and it’s the performance and potential that counts. For Colette it’s a chance to establish herself in the under-17 rankings and to add to her success in the Irish Junior Open last year”
