Tough draw for Kimberley Cauchi in the Polish Junior Squash Open

Rising squash star Kimberley Cauchi will face Denisa Rohunova from the Czech Republic in the first round of the under-13 Polish Junior Squash Open in Warsaw on Saturday.
Rohunova is ranked number 14 in Europe and will be a tough test for the Maltese youngster.

Cauchi followed up her recent success in the Malta Junior Open with an impressive victory last week in the Marsa Squash Section Junior Closed taking the title without dropping a game. Following her 7th place finish in the Austrian Junior Open in March, and the recent good performances, coach Paul Lake is hoping Kimberley will be able to continue her present form and put in a good all-round performance in Warsaw.

Thanks go to the Marsa Sports Club and the Marsa Squash Section, without their support Kimberley’s participation in Poland would not be possible. Kimberley is sponsored by Wilson and is a member of the Marsa Squash Section Junior Development  Programme.

Malta Squash Academy Team 2 Newcastle Northern 2

Malta Squash Academy Team 2 Newcastle Northern 2

Number 4
Michelle had to fight for the first time. Maria, new to Marsa, put up a tremendous and courageous performance but once again the valuable experience of playing regular team squash paid off for Michelle.
Final score 3-1 Michelle 11-7 / 4-11 / 11-7 / 11-6
1-0 Newcastle

Number 3
Colette was always in control of this match and had a relatively easy game. Lesley played well but was under too much pressure from the start.
Final score 3-0 Colette 11-4 / 11-1 / 11-3
Marsa 1 Newcastle 1

Number 2
Cliff put in a great display against Karen. Leading 2-1 it looked as if Cliff was going to be the first player to beat Karen. The fourth was very close with Karen edging the game 11-9. In the 5^th and final game it looked as if Cliff had ran out of ideas and Karen stepped her game up slightly taking the game and match.
Final score 3-2 Karen 8-11 / 11-5 / 2-11 / 11-9 / 11-5
2-1 Newcastle

Number 1
No real problems for Carl. Emma played well in patches and showed some fantastic touches and killing shots that left Carl speechless.
Final score 3-0 Carl 11-5 / 11-7 / 11-6

Final team result: Marsa SC 2 – Newcastle Northern 2

Marsa Squash Section Mixed 1 vs Newcastle Northern Ladies 3

Marsa Squash Section Mixed vs Newcastle Northern Ladies
Sunday 27th March

Number 4
Once again Michelle wasn’t troubled in a very one-sided match. Analise fought well but had no answers to Michelle’s experience and superior shot selection.
Final score 3-0 Michelle 11-7 / 11-2 / 11-3
1-0 Newcastle

Number 3
Christer wasn’t really at the races and was unable to play in his usual dynamic style – a day’s rest the day before might have helped Christer! . Lesley played a solid game and took every opportunity to move Christer around the court and really only had to wait for Christer to stop running.
Final score 3-0 Lesley 11-6 / 11-7 / 11-9
2-0 Newcastle

Number 2
Peter produced his usual swashbuckling style in a close-fought and entertaining match. Karen moved well and always managed to find the right shot at the right time and was able to sometimes find the ‘nick’ at will. Peter, always on the back foot and never knowing which shot to expect next, fought until the end but Karen managed to keep the upper hand winning 4 very closely fought games.
Final score 3-1 Karen 11-8 / 3-11 / 11-7 / 11-8
3-0 Newcastle

Number 1
Emma got off to a good start taking a close first game with Robert defending too often rather than trying to take the initiative. From midway through the second game, Robert’s consistency and determination started to pay dividends and Emma looked to be running out of ideas and never quite found the right killing shot.
Final score 3-1 Robert 7-11 / 11-9 / 11-6 / 11-7
Well done Robert; first match win for Marsa vs Newcastle

Final team result Marsa SC 1 – Newcastle Northern 3

Final game of the tour will be this evening from 17.00-19.00 against an Academy select team.

Marsa Squash Ladies 0 Newcastle Northern Ladies 4

Marsa Squash Ladies 0 Newcastle Northern Ladies 4

Number 4.
Elaine Cauchi (Marsa) playing her first representative team match was on court first against Michelle Robertson (Newcastle Northern). Elaine started nervously and never really settled during the match, allowing Michelle to dominate the game from start to end.
Michelle moved Elaine around the court well and won deservedly 3-0 (11-5 / 11-8 / 11-2).
1-0 Newcastle

Number 3.
Next on court was Sue Aquilina (Marsa) against Leslie Vitty (Newcastle Northern). Lesley started the more determined of the two with Sue playing into her opponents hands, playing too often too short. In the third game Sue found a better length and was able to keep Lesley under pressure.
The 4^th set was very close and could have gone either way with Lesley taking the deciding game and so the match 3-1 (11-6 / 11-7 / 10-12 / 11-9).
2-0 Newcastle

Number 2.
Colette Sultana (Marsa) vs Karen Heron (Newcastle Northern). Colette took a very tough 1^st game but looked tired and slow from the start of the 2^nd game allowing Karen to race to a 9-2 lead. Karen from that point looked in control and was able to move the Maltese teenager around the court and wait for the right opportunity to finish the rallies.
Final score 3-1 to Karen (11-13 / 11-4 / 11-5 / 11-7).
3-0 Newcastle

Number 1.
Joanna Rizzo (Marsa) vs Emma Barnet (Newcastle Northern). Joanna never really got into the game with Emma showing that good movement combined with good shot selection allows you to dominate your opponent. Joanna put up the usual gritty performance and her effort can never be questioned but was never really able to trouble Emma.
Final score 3-1 to Emma (11-4 / 11-2 / 9-11 / 11-5).
4-0 Newcastle

Next match – Marsa mixed vs Newcastle Northern Ladies

Newcastle Northern Premier League Squash Team at Marsa

The ladies premier league squash team from Newcastle Northern will be visiting Malta at the end of this week to play a series of test matches.
This will be the first time that a premier league squash team has visited Malta and all the local players have been training hard in preparation for the visit. The test matches are sure to be worth watching and will feature a selection of some of the best players from the Marsa Squash Section.

On Sunday 27th from 10am the ladies from Newcastle will be competing against a Marsa Squash Section Ladies team.
The team represetnint Marsa will be  Joanna Rizzo, Colette Sultana, ,Sue Aquilina and Elaine Cauchi.

On Sunday evening from 17.00hrs the ladies from Newcastle will play their second test match against a Marsa Squash Section Men’s select comprising of Robert Sultana, Peter Wirth, Christer Gustafsson and Analise Attard.

Monday 28th from 17.00hrs sees the third and final of the test matches against a select team from The Malta Squash Academy.
This will be another tough test for the ‘Geordies’ as they will play against Carl Camilleri, Christer Gustafsson, Colette Sultana and An Other.

All the matches will be held at the Marsa Sports Club and spectators are welcome to attend all sessions.

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 u-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.”