Women’s World Junior Team Championships
The Women’s World Junior Team Championships starts on July 24th and runs until the 29th.
The Women’s team is:
Lydia McQuillan
Maria Protsepova
Sara Sabry
Sophie Thomas
Coach: David Noone
Manager: Roisin O’Shea
Day 5
Match overview
| Order |
Event |
Chinese Taipei |
– |
 Ireland |
Score |
Points |
|
|
Duration |
| 1 |
GS1 |
|
– |
|
1-11 0-11 5-11 |
0-1 |
|
|
15m |
| 2 |
GS2 |
|
– |
|
4-11 5-11 |
0-1 |
|
|
09m |
| 3 |
GS3 |
|
– |
|
3-11 6-11 3-11 |
0-1 |
|
|
16m |
Big day for us today. We really felt like we could get the win against Chinese Taipei and taste the victory we were after in the teams event.
In many ways, just by making the colossal effort to participate in this championships, the girls could be commended. So many other strong nations, especially European nations, decided not to travel because they felt they may not be good enough. It’s not a very valid reason in my opinion, and certainly doesn’t inspire the younger generation of players from these countries. Ireland and its younger female players will now have this giant carrot of knowing trips like this are possible in the future if they apply themselves and stick to training hard at squash. Add to that, the support the game needs at the moment to host these events, keep players and countries playing; our participation was greatly appreciated!
From a coaches perspective, it may just give the hope to players starting squash to delve a little deeper into our great game that offers so much to its players in the world of competition.
Our match was in the afternoon so we prepared accordingly, nice breakfast, some practiced, some stretched. Once we were ready to go, the excitement kicked in. In many of our matches we were out gunned, too physical an opposition.
This time, we could play squash the way we wanted to. Lydia was first up and she was clinical, great tempo to her play and super accurate. Keeping errors to a minimum, she closed out a well deserved victory 3-0.
Sara was relentless in attack throughout her match. Kept the head down and focused throughout, a superb performance, again winning 3-0.
Maria closed out the match with a victory and to our delight, we got our win.
This has us finishing in 13th position. With no match tomorrow.
We will however be enjoying the final between Malaysia and Egypt. We also have tickets to the Bledisloe cup match between Australia (who have been in our hotel all week) and the All Blacks. This is a trip to the 100,000 seater MCG. A nice way to bring our trip to an end.
These girls are an amazing bunch, it was a pleasure to be part of their experience and hats off to their respective coaches back home for doing such a great job.
This event will provide so much fuel for training in months and years to come!! An exciting future.
Day 4
Match overview
| Order |
Event |
Ireland |
– |
 South Africa |
Score |
Points |
|
|
Duration |
| 1 |
GS1 |
|
– |
|
1-11 2-11 1-11 |
0-1 |
|
|
19m |
| 2 |
GS2 |
|
– |
|
3-11 6-11 5-11 |
0-1 |
|
|
15m |
| 3 |
GS3 |
|
– |
|
8-11 5-11 |
0-1 |
|
|
10m |
The teams event in Melbourne this year has 4 groups, all group matches being played at either 2pm or 5pm.
We had our tie against Hong Kong China at 5pm which allowed for some practice and a few free hours for the players. Their first time having enough time to get in a bit of sight seeing. With momager, Roisin O’Shea, the girls chose to spend a few hours at Melbourne Zoo.
Once back, it was time to prep for the Hong Kong China match, a mammoth task of taking on one of the best teams here.
We played Sophie, Maria and Lydia. All had great contests, didn’t roll over easily and fought hard to the end, unfortunately all had the same result. 3-0. All the focus now shifted to our next match.
South Africa..
Again, this match was on at 5pm so we put in a solid practice and really focused. South Africa had a weapon at no.1, she was impressive throughout the individual championships and has been a feature in the business end of the big international tournaments. She didn’t hold back for this one and brought her A game against Sara Sabry. Some great patches for us but the result never really in doubt, going the way of Savannah Ingledew.
Maria was powered off the court by a super hard hitting opponent. She was unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of almost a dozen flat cross court nicks, I bet that girl never hit that amount nicks in any match in her life up until now. 3-0 to Elske Garbers.
With the tie out of reach, Sophie took to the court to play a best of three dead rubber. Losing in two close games.
Tomorrow we play Chinese Taipei and will be hoping to get a change in result.
The girls are putting their best effort into each match and deserve some glory. It’s no joke when a lot of teams from Europe and other parts didn’t send over teams, makes every match an almost pro level experience.
One thing is for sure, this group will give it all they have and they can be proud of their efforts!
Day 3
Match overview
| Order |
Event |
Hong Kong, China |
– |
Ireland |
Score |
Points |
|
|
Duration |
| 1 |
GS1 |
|
– |
|
11-2 11-3 11-2 |
1-0 |
|
|
14m |
| 2 |
GS2 |
|
– |
|
11-5 11-3 11-3 |
1-0 |
|
|
15m |
| 3 |
GS3 |
|
– |
|
11-3 11-1 11-5 |
1-0 |
|
|
16m |
Day 2
Match overview
| Order |
Event |
Singapore |
– |
Ireland |
Score |
Points |
|
|
Duration |
| 1 |
GS1 |
|
– |
|
11-8 11-5 11-8 |
1-0 |
|
|
23m |
| 2 |
GS2 |
|
– |
|
11-5 11-2 11-6 |
1-0 |
|
|
17m |
| 3 |
GS3 |
|
– |
|
11-5 11-2 11-3 |
1-0 |
|
|
16m |
With no rest day for the players, the team event kicked off on Monday morning. As the individual finals finished on Sunday, there was a closing ceremony in the hotels giant conference room. Packed out with all the players and officials, a big spread of food was put on, some speeches and a few emotional good byes as the whole of the men’s section departed as well as a sizeable amount of the women’s section.
It felt a little empty in the club the next day, 200 or more people not occupying the vast space. We had our practice at 11am, as we were due to take on India in our first match at 2pm. Our group comprises of India, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The Indians are a strong team, good depth and spearheaded by the young superstar Anahat Singh. Playing order of the day was 2-3-1. Meaning Sophie was up first, followed by Maria and then Sara. Lydia rested.
Sophie was giving it 100%, getting stuck in when possible but was lacking the physical presence that her opponent had in abundance. It was a tough 3 games, all going the way of the Indian.
Maria had a similar experience, could have capitalised on a few more occasions but ultimately got hit off the court by a more powerful player. Simple squash played more frequently will be the aim, to help get settled on the court and allow their best squash to be played.
Sara had a mission on her hands, the worlds best player for her age, Anahat Singh, will no doubt feature in the highest end of the professional game in the coming years. Sara held herself very well though, really getting into the games and going toe to toe for long periods of time. She certainly wasn’t a million miles away. But in the end, another 3-0 win for India.
We ended our night with a nice meal in St.Kilda again and a good nights rest ahead of Singapore.
For the Singapore match, it wasn’t until 5pm. So after breakfast, where Roisin chose to have a lemsip even though she’s not unwell, we had a practice in the club, a warm down and lunch. Getting ready for a good battle!
Playing order was 1-3-2, players were Sara, Lydia and Sophie in that order.
Sara was close in every game! Coming from behind after blistering starts from the Singaporean, leaving no stone unturned in her tactical battle. An evenly matched contest for 80% of the time but ultimately a 3-0 win for Singapore.
Lydia was up next, firing on all cylinders after good preparation, an excellent mindset and attitude. She did everything she could to win, was just outplayed by a more experienced player and in the end lost 3-0.
Sophie went on when we had lost the tie, so no pressure on her. Some exciting rallies, great displays of skill and grit from the Belfast girl. She can be proud of the improvements made from yesterday. As all the players can be! But another 3-0 loss unfortunately.
Tomorrow, it’s not going to be any easier, we face Hong Kong China in our last pool match. Hong Kong China are one of the favourites to win the event, looking forward to the experience and another battle!
Come on Ireland!
Day 1
Match overview
| Order |
Event |
India |
– |
Ireland |
Score |
Points |
|
|
Duration |
| 1 |
GS1 |
|
– |
|
11-1 11-4 11-2 |
1-0 |
|
|
18m |
| 2 |
GS2 |
|
– |
|
11-2 11-2 11-3 |
1-0 |
|
|
14m |
| 3 |
GS3 |
|
– |
|
11-5 11-3 11-2 |
1-0 |
|
|
14m |
