Latest News

The teams again make us proud to be Cantabrians! 

So close! And so much bad luck! That sums up our 2017 Nationals...

Canterbury Senior Team 2017_opt

We have a disjointed affect where most of our players are distributed around our province and attending university or working in different areas, but none the less the spirit and bond came through and the team gelled as if it had always been together!

The selection process was made more difficult with unavailability of some top players, and some selected players putting their hand up. Even though other commitments were their priority, they still valued the opportunity to play for Canterbury.

The competition is tough, made harder with the decision this year to split the individuals from the Teams. This made for fresh players (not having the 4 or 5 games through individuals) and the 4-game format made ties far more competitive with every game and point valuable (which we have had first-hand experience!!).

Our first-round matches were going to be even with the men being seeded 5 playing 4 and the women seeded 4 playing 5…

The men played Waikato and we had a fired-up team with Jayden and Quinn pulling off superb wins, both playing an array of shots and great length and dominating from the front of the court! Adam and Joe also had hard grinding matches with long energy sapping rallies, although not winning they gave us the vital points we needed to secure an unexpected win!

The women played Wellington. This was going to be a tough tie with Wellington showing determination and an experienced middle core put our younger players Ruby and Emma under pressure. They responded with fierce rapid-fire rallies but unfortunately the experience came through. Megan again showed us why she is our best! Her poise, graceful movement and assassin like length was too much for a determined Becky Barnett (you inspire us all Megs). Sophie was another bad luck story where she aggravated an injury in the first few rallies of her game against Abbey Wotten, but with true fighting spirit Sophie was determined to carry on and so with a few tactical changes she was to come away with an intelligent win! Unfortunately, not enough to give us the win, losing by one game…

Up next (Men) we played Wellington, top seeds and a formidable opposition headed by Evan Williams and Sam Atkins. Our Jayden and Joe were going to be under the hammer and were going to have to put in some hard-fought rallies to keep us in the match and play way ahead of themselves! Again, bad luck was to follow us with Jayden coming down with a severe flu which has plagued him off and on over the past month, although giving his best a world class player like Evan was too much. Joe also gave his best and had huge rallies and just when you would hope things would go our way a little it was not to be, it's one of those games where all calls and balls just clipped the top of the tin or didn't go our way!  But then up stepped our "rocks", Quinn played a solid mature game of squash against ex Cantab Jonny Barnett and played a dominant game from the middle of the court not letting Jonny have any advantage. And then Adam although couldn't get his length right in the first game soon adjusted and put a very determined Willie Bicknell away. 

This then brought the event alive with why this tournament is so hard fought and why every point is so critical, A Draw!! (7 games and 115 points ALL!) Sam Crawford from NZ squash was at hand to officiate and the rules depicted the teams be put into a hat and the winner be pulled out!! The moment was "tense" and the bad luck prevailed!!

The first plate round saw the Canterbury Women’s team take on Eastern. Megan had a convincing win over Eastern’s top seed Rhiarne, which was an immense help when it came to the points count back at the end! Ruby had a nail biting game against Tania, with close game scores. Her composure, determination and fitness proved too much for her opponent, aiding her to win 11/2 in the fifth game. Emma also had a 5-game battle against Winona. Although Emma played well and fought to the end, she was unable to secure a win. Kelly took Mel on in our final game against Eastern, and although was unable to win, managed to score enough points to put them through to the plate final. Canterbury went through to the plate final by a 3-point margin.

Our last match (Men) was to be against Bay of Plenty (3rd seeds) our can-do attitude and desire to put the disappointment of not making the final behind us made ALL of us more determined to do well in this one! Although full of the flu and showing tiredness Jayden (playing Ben Grindrod) could put some fine shots together to at least give us points in the bank if we then again went to count back, Quinn had to dig deep and adjust his game to counter the power and shot making by Matiu Te kani-Mcqueen and came away with a great win. Then Joe and Adam found their form and fought off the tiredness of the previous matches to come through with solid wins…

In the women’s last match, Canterbury played Waikato for the plate. Megan proved far too strong for her opponent again, keeping her 3/0 match record for the tournament up. Sophie had an intense battle with Sarah, and had everyone on edge through-out the 5 setter. Sophie could take it to the end, winning 13/11.  Ruby and Emma both fought hard, but were unable to secure wins against their tough opponents. Again, Canterbury were so close, but lost the plate final in a game countback 8-7. Throughout the entire tournament the women supported, coached and encouraged each other – I could not have asked for better team spirit. Thank you for everything that you all contributed to making this a great event ladies! Although we did not secure the seeding we were hoping for, you should all be proud of the way you represented Canterbury both on and off the court! 

I must give a huge thank you to Kelly and Simon, both showed the support and fortitude to be there when needed and lift the team with their happy demeanours and caring words of wisdom! To Simon, it is very hard to go away with a Team and not play but be prepared at every Match! I thank you for your understanding and unrelenting friendliness and support to us all AND your time will come!

My last parting note is to Sam Crawford… Sam is moving on to greener pastures at the end of this season. He has had a difficult role in elevating our sport and has been a strong flag bearer of NZ squash and has been instrumental in developing the role he is now doing! We, down here in the far South appreciate what you have done Sam and wish you all the very best in your future endeavours……

Manager/Coaches

Kelly Sullivan & Brownie


<< Back

> Past News

Grading & Tournaments:

Click here for iSquash


Find a Club:


Join us on Facebook:

Website by NZ Sites