Our Junior Development Officer Di McCoy has been liaising with clubs and coaches to put together a fantastic offering of after school programmes for beginner juniors that would like to try out the sport of squash or enhance their squash skills.
It's all about having fun and meeting new people so head on over to www.squashcanterbury.co.nz/registrations/index.cfm to sign up!
It has been a year like no other, in so many ways, and while Squash Canterbury unfortunately wasn't in a position to host an awards event this year it was still important to us that we celebrated some fantastic achievements and acknowledged the incredible service that that different individuals contribute to our squash community.
Anastasia Lim, Rangiora Squash Club
Callum Brown, Greymouth Squash Club
Emily Keefe-Nicholls, Christchurch Squash Club
MP Johal, Hoon Hay Squash Club
Wayne Smith, Christchurch Squash Club
Kate Fox, Burnside Squash Club
Adam Odering, Christchurch Football Squash Club
Aaron Warner, Christchurch Football Squash Club
Paul Growcott, Christchurch Squash Club
Kelly Sullivan, Burnside Squash Club
Christchurch Squash Club
The Canterbury Open took place under Covid 19 Alert Level 2 conditions over the course of Friday 11th and Saturday 12th September at the Christchurch Squash Club. With a reduced field and minimal spectators in order to comply with the 100 people capacity and social distancing measures in place, the tournament had a different look to it but that didn't prevent fantastic and competitive squash from being played.
Emma Cormack extended her Canterbury Open Women's Champion title winning run after defending match points and going on to beat Grace Hymers, while Chris can der Salm toppled Oliver Johnston in a fiery clash to be crowned the Men's Champion. Both matches going the distance to five sets, and providing the crowd in attendance with some quality entertainment on a Saturday night.
A huge thank you to Adam Teo, the tournament organiser, for running a fantastic competition within the Government guidelines and allowing another unique chapter in the history of the Canterbury Open to be written. Thanks also must go to Bruce McEachen, Paul Growcott and the wider Christchurch Squash Club for their tireless contributions and efforts in the lead up and during the tournament.
The full results are as follows:
Men's Open - Winner: Chris van der Salm Runner Up: Oliver Johnston
Women's Open - Winner: Emma Cormack Runner Up: Grace Hymers
Men's One - Winner: Tom Marshall Runner Up: Matthias Paltridge
Men's Two - Winner: Thomas Cooper Runner Up: Ray Tahana
Men's Three - Winner: Dorian Monin Runner Up: Jacob Vanner
Men's Four - Winner: Brett Phillips Runner Up: Lawrence Skurr
Men's Five - Winner: Mark O'Connor Runner Up: Mat Parson
Men's Six - Winner: Timothy Petterson Runner Up: Robert Hanson
Women's One - Winner: Liza Tonkin Runner Up: Nadia Karati
Junior Division - Winner: Tanisha Butt Runner Up: Lewis Stewart
The Squash season is nearly back and for all the restless souls out there the OXFORD CLUB is hosting their OPEN in February this year. The club has undergone many repairs since the earthquakes and is now looking in tip-top shape and is hosting this open with the hope of making their club look even better.
Oxford is a welcoming and tidy 2 court complex 30min outside of Christchurch that includes fascinating views of the Canterbury plains along the way and has the famous Sheffield pie shop just around the corner (I've been told these pies are to die for) as a great food stop.
The Oxford Open will be a great tournament for everyone and if you want to sign up then go to https://www.squash.org.nz
Here's another new initiative coming out of Squash Canterbury - the WOMENS R18 D GRADE & BELOW SERIES. Its a great opportunity for women who wants to take up squash or get playing more, to play a tournament where everyone will be of similar ability.
This is the first of 4 tournaments in the series taking place at FOOTBALL CLUB and run by Kirsty Whiteside who is a D1 herself.
To sign up go to Squash NZ - https://www.squash.org.nz
