Robinson wins top Growthpoint Junior Nationals clash
Easterns’ player Brianna Robinson registered a notable win over Chantè Leppan as the intensity ratcheted up a level on the second day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals Squash Championships, in Cape Town, on Friday.
Playing at Makers Landing, at the V&A Waterfront, the country’s top u17 and u19 players were locked in battle as the round-robin format unfolded on Friday and Saturday.
There were several hard-fought matches on Friday, giving an indication that the top-seeded players will have their work cut out for them to achieve the goal of being crowned national champion.
Robinson delivered proof of that in her match in the women’s u19 section against Leppan, the tournament’s second seed.
Robinson seized control of the match by taking the first two games, but Leppan showed that nothing could be taken for granted and delivered a supreme effort to level the match by winning the next two games 11-8 and 13-11.
And so, it came down to the fifth game decider, in which Robinson quickly asserted herself to shoot out to a 6-1 lead.
It was the sort of deficit which would not be easy to make up between two evenly matched players and although Leppan pulled it back to 10-6, the Easterns player finally sealed the deal on her first match point.
Another blockbuster of a match developed in the girls’ u17 division, where top seed Makayla Naidoo, of KwaZulu-Natal, had to withstand a massive challenge from Border’s Kate van Biljon, last year’s Growthpoint u15 champion.
The KZN player led 2-1 before Van Biljon extended the match to a fifth game decider by winning a marathon fourth game 16-14.
It was tight all the way down the final stretch, but Naidoo did just enough to edge home 11-8.
In another close encounter, women’s u19 top seed Dené Van Zyl found herself in a real scrap with KZN’s Cevana Naidoo.
The defending Growthpoint u19 champion, Van Zyl looked to be on cruise control at 2-0 up, but Naidoo demonstrated real grit to take charge of the third game and race out to an 8-1 lead.
Although Van Zyl put in a top effort to close the gap, Naidoo held on to win it 11-9 and then followed a tight fourth game which went to the 10-10 tiebreaker, with the top seed regaining control to take it 12-10 and the match 3-1.
In the men’s U19 section, top seed Judah Phillips, of Northerns, and second seed, Thomas Boutall, of Western Province, showed they meant business by securing 3-0 wins against tough opponents, with Phillips accounting for Boland’s Louis le Riche, and Boutall downing Benji Newman, of Eastern Province.
POOL RESULTS
Girls’ U17
Pool A: Makayla Naidoo (KZN) bt Kate van Biljon (Border) 3-2 (9-11 11-5 11-7 14-16 11-8).
Pool B: Hanrie Duits (Eden) bt Amelia Lubbe (Northerns) 3-0 (11-2 11-5 11-6), Vivienne van der Schyff (Free State) bt Tara Neville-Smyly (WP) 3-0 (11-9 11-2 11-9).
Boys’ U17
Pool A: Christian Swanepoel (Eden) bt Dylan Keswell (WP) 3-1 (11-6 11-5 4-11 11-8).
Pool B: Milan Raffa (Northerns) bt Logan Kidson (Northerns) 3-0 (11-6 11-8 11-8), Luke Goldschmidt (EP) bt Aiden McNeill (KZN) 3-0 (12-10 11-8 11-1).
Women’s U19
Pool A: Dené Van Zyl (Boland) bt Cevana Naidoo (KZN) 3-1 (11-4 11-5 9-11 12-10), Brianna Robinson (Easterns) bt Chante Leppan (Northerns) 3-2 (11-6 11-6 8-11 11-13 11-6).
Pool B: Marlene van Wyk (Boland) bt Benedette van Tonder (Free State) 3-2 (9-11 11-9 2-11 11-8 11-7), Lucy Malherbe (WP) v Katelyn Walland (EP) 3-1 (11-6 11-8 8-11 11-9).
Men’s u19
Pool A: Judah Phillips (Northerns) bt Louis le Riche (Boland) 3-0 (11-5 11-5 11-3), Thomas Boutall (WP) bt Benji Newman (EP) 3-0 (11-5 11-7 12-10).
Pool B: Ruvay Ramdhin (KZN) bt Heinu van Jaarsveld (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-7 11-6 11-4), Nicholas Basson (WP) bt Anrieg Small (Boland) 3-1 (11-7 8-11 11-7 13-11).
