Our Central graded champions headed to Tauranga for the HEAD National Graded Championships that were run alongside the HEAD New Zealand Championships which our selected ‘A grade’ players played in. This event attracted New Zealand’s top squash players including World No. 2 Paul Coll and was the final tournament of the HEAD Pro series for New Zealand’s top squash players.
This event provided the team with a great experience of participating in competitive environment across all grades of squash. Team manager (and player) Andrew Bannan noted ‘the level of squash in all grades was outstanding and the sportsmanship between players really stood out’.
There was mixed results across the team with several finishing better than their seedings, a big accomplishment in such a competitive environment. Finals day saw some very tough games with some great final results, most mentionable are those that finished within the top three in their grade.
- Luke Garrett (E grade men) placed 2nd
- Kendall Hale (E grade women) placed 3rd
- Jessie Harding (D grade women) placed 3rd
- Andrew Bannan (C grade men) placed 3rd
- Emma Foreman (B grade women) placed 3rd
The Squash Central team were also able to watch Maximus Mathews, Centrals top graded male player and seeded 6th in the New Zealand Champs draw, reach the semi finals where Paul Coll defeated him. Maximus went on to finish the tournament in third place beating his seeding by three places.
The team thank Devoy Squash and Fitness Centre for hosting this national event and providing a top quality venue for all of the players. The Saturday night dinner was a highlight as well.
Squash NZ can also be commended on organising a great tournament and making sure the schedule ran as smoothly as possible, which is no easy feat running such an extensive event.
Pictured below is the selected team representing Squash Central across all grades. Congratulations to the whole team for representing Squash Central on the national stage.
Pictured below is the selected team representing Squash Central across all grades. Congratulations to the whole team for representing Squash Central on the National stage.
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