Chichester squash fans hail King Louie

Champion Louie Martin with club manager Jack Lerwill

Louie Martin (No1 seed), Marcus Blake, Sam Winterhalder and Jamie Dilling all took part in the boys’ under-13 event.

Martin and Blake progressed to the quarter-finals while Blake defeated Dilling in the opening round. Winterhalder lost to the No2 seed in the opening round but gathered his game to win the plate final - an event for all first-match losers.

Blake lost in the quarter-finals but Martin progressed to the semis, where he had a Titanic match against a very under-rated opponent, saving two match points to book his place in the final against long-time rival Matt North.

In the final, Martin had the pressure of being top seed and knew no other Chichester junior had won any age group at this event for at least 20 years. Martin didn’t disappoint and ran out an 11-4, 11-2 victor to claim the under-13 title.

In the boys’ under-15 event the home club were also well represented. George Briance and Julian Standish progressed to the second round but Joe Adams lost a tight match and qualified for the plate.

Adams had a massive match in the first round of the plate in which he sadly grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory. He was leading 10-2 in the final game but surrendered the next ten points in succession to finally lose the game 12-10.

Briance battled extremely well throughout his second-round match before succumbing to defeat. Standish, however, progressed to the semi-finals with a well-deserved victory over the No4 seed.

In the semi, he fought well against the more experienced opponent, Will Rowe, before losing 11-7, 11-7.

Charlotte Terry (Chi) was favourite to take the girls’ under-15 title. She has, however, recently been plagued by injuries and, subsequently, her confidence has taken a slight knock - nonetheless she played very well and finished in third place.

Adam Corcoran, recent runner-up in the national under-15 championships, took the under-17 title from Sam Exelby, and Max Exelby took the under-15 crown from Will Rowe.

The under-11 boys’ title was won by Franklin Smith. Emily Kimber won the girls’ under-13 event with Annabel Vaughan victorious in the girls’ under-15 competition. All in all it was a great day’s squash.

For further details about junior squash at CRAFC, please contact Mike Phillips (club coach) on 07790 541084 or at [email protected]