The best of SA’s young squash talent on show at SA Schools Closed Champs
The South African Schools Closed Squash Championships take place at the Barrow Squash Centre at St John’s College and at Roedean School, in Johannesburg, from Friday, 12 April to Sunday, 14 April, bringing together the cream of the crop from across the country.
The event is an invitation-only tournament and features the top players in each age group – u19, u16, and u14 – from around the country.
It is also the second of three SA Schools qualifiers for top 10 national rankings. The others are the Technifibre Bloemfontein Junior Open, which was played from 29 February to 3 March, and the forthcoming Inter-provincial Tournament, which will be played in June.
Each of the tournaments also serves as a selection event for the national u16 team’s tour of Malaysia in December, which will include six girls and six boys.
In addition, the SA Schools Closed Squash Championships is a qualifying event for the annual Inter-Provincial Tournament, which takes place in June.
Top Four Seeds
Boys’ u19
1 Luhann Groenewald (Northerns, Hoërskool Zwartkop), 2 Judah Phillips (Northerns, home school), 3 Devon Osborne (Boland, Parel Vallei), 4 Juan-Corné Brand (Northerns, Hoërskool Zwartkop)
Girls’ u19
1 Chanté Leppan (Northerns, Hoërskool Zwartkop), 2 Elzandri Janse van Rensburg (Northerns, Midstream College), 3 Bianke Pienaar (North-West, Potchefstroom Gimnasium), 4 Cara Knott (Border, Clarendon)
Boys’ u16
1 Benji Newman (Eastern Province, Grey High School), 2 Joel Rix (Boland, Hoërskool Swartland), 3 Thero Motshubi (Gauteng, St John’s College), 4 Aiden McNeill (KZN, Kings Interhigh Online School)
Girls’ u16
1 Makayla Naidoo (KZN, St John’s DSG), 2 Brianna Robinson (Eastern Gauteng, home school), 3 Kate van Biljon (Border, Clarendon), 4. Starla Phillips (Northerns, home school)
Boys’ u14
1 Déwan Borstlap (Northerns, Hoërskool Waterkloof), 2 Daniel Tarr (Border, Selborne College), 3 Liam Hart (Boland, Laerskool Lochnerhof), 4 Nathan Hall (Eastern Province, Hoërskool Framesby)
Girls’ u14
1 Rylee Howells (KZN, Epworth), 2 Rebecca Scheckter (Eastern Province, Diocesan School for Girls), 3 Gemma Clark (Eastern Province, Kingswood College), 4 Lily Strydom (KZN, The Wykeham Collegiate)
