Sun 25th, Finals:

G15: Millie Tomlinson bt Harriet Ingham   9/2, 9/0, 9/4 (32m)
B15: James Earles bt Nicholas Hopcroft     9/1, 9/5, 9/2 (25m)
G19: Victoria Lust bt Sarah-Jane Perry     9/6, 9/5, 9/0 (35m)
B19: Adrian Waller bt Joe Lee         10/9, 4/9, 9/3, 9/1 (65m)

Tomlinson takes first title,
Earles defends ...
Chris Nutley reports

The British Under 19/15 Championships concluded on Sunday evening with Adrian Waller claiming the Don Sanderson British Under 19 title, defeating great rival Joe Lee (Surrey) 3-1 on the all glass court at Manchester’s National Squash Centre. It was a deserved win for Adrian who had seen off No1 seed Tom Pashley  in the Semi-Final. The Under 19 title means that Adrian has now won British titles at all the four age groups – a tremendous achievement.

Derbyshire's Millie Tomlinson claimed the first title of the championships when she comprehensively beat Harriet Ingham of Surrey in the final. Millie looked unstoppable all weekend and has again proved herself to be the best player in her age group by some distance. The Under 15 crown is Millie’s second British title, adding to the Under 13 title she won at Bishop’s Stortford in 2005, where she also defeated Harriet Ingham.

James Earles was in no mood to hang around and quickly dispatched Nicholas Hopcroft to retain his British Under 15 title. At the beginning of the event this category looked to be wide open with a number of potential winners. However the two times British Champion came into form at the right time and blew away the opposition and stamp his authority on the age group.

Victoria Lust was simply too good for Sarah-Jane Perry in the Don Sanderson British Under 19 Final. The match had promised much after the great wins they had both recorded in their Semi-Finals but Victoria was simply a cut above and never looked like surrendering. Sarah-Jane’s famous win over Rachel Willmott may have taken too much out of her this morning but she can look back on a very successful tournament that has cemented her status as one of the countries top juniors. It was Victoria’s third British title adding to the Under 13 crown she won in 2001 and the Under 17 title she claimed in 2005.

Seeds tumble in U19 semis
Chris Nutley reports

Semis G15:
[1] Millie Tomlinson bt Sophie Lemom  9/2, 9/0, 9/5 (23m)
[2] Harriet Ingham bt Tesni Evans     8/10, 9/4, 9/0, 10/8 (39m)

B15:
[1] James Earles bt Robert Downer     7/9, 9/1, 9/7, 9/0 (49m)
[2] Nicholas Hopcroft bt Philip Waller   9/5, 9/2, 9/6 (36m)

Don Sanderson British U19 Championship:

G19:
Sarah-Jane Perry bt [1] Rachel Willmott  9/7,5/9,9/2,9/3 (50m)
Victoria Lust bt [2] Victoria Bell  9/3, 8/10, 10/9, 9/7 (55m)

B19:
Adrian Waller bt [1] Tom Pashley  9/3, 9/6, 9/3 (44m)
[2] Joe Lee bt Oliver Pett              9/7, 9/5, 10/8 (65m)

In a dramatic morning at the National Squash Centre in Manchester Rachel Willmott’s quest for an eighth British title ended in heartbreak. In the day’s first match on the all glass court Warwickshire’s Sarah-Jane Perry proved too strong for Rachel who seemed out of sorts and not as confident as usual. Sarah-Jane, runner-up in the British U17 Championships last October now meets Victoria Lust (Bedfordshire) in the final.

In the Boys Under 19 the top seed was also sent packing. Tom Pashley (Sussex) lost in straight games to an impressive looking Adrian Waller (Hertfordshire) who is looking to add to his tally of three British titles. The final will be a repeat of the British Under 17 final in 2005 when Adrian lost out where Adrian lost out to Joe Lee (Surrey). Joe, the No2 seed, overcame Oliver Pett (Sussex) in straight but tough games.

The top two seeds in the both the Under 15 categories steered their way through the Semis to set up the anticipated finals. Two-time British title holder and defending champion James Earles (Yorkshire) lost the first game to Robert Downer (Hampshire) but then recovered to record a 3-1 victory. He now meets No2 seed Nicholas Hopcroft (Surrey) who was simply too good for a disappointing Philip Waller (Hertfordshire).

Millie Tomlinson (Derbyshire) continued her march into the final where she now plays old rival Harriet Ingham (Surrey).
 

Waller topples
top two seeds


Lee aims for double title

DRAWS
updated 13.30 Sun

Boys U19
 
Girls U19
 
Boys U15
 
Girls U15

QUARTERS:

U19 Boys

Tom Pashley bt
Eddie Charlton
9/5, 9/7, 9/3

Adrian Waller bt
Michael Harris
9/7, 10/8, 9/7

Oliver Pett bt
Lewis Walters
9/4, 0/9, 9/4, 9/5

Joe Lee bt
Adam Murrills
9/1, 9/4, 9/0

U19 Girls

Rachel Willmott bt
Kimberley Hay
9/6, 9/7, 9/6

Sarah-Jane Perry bt
Bethan Williams
9/2, 9/3, 9/6

Victoria Lust bt
Lisa Aitkin
8/10, 9/6, 9/5, 9/7

Victoria Bell bt
Natalie Coombs
9/6, 9/1, 9/1

U15 Boys

James Earles bt
Alex Lemom
9/1, 9/2, 9/0

Robert Downer bt
David Wardle
9/5, 8/10, 10/8, 10/9

Phillip Waller bt
Oliver Holland
9/1, 9/1, 9/7

Nicholas Hopcroft bt
Alex Bowden
9/6, 1/9, 9/5, 9/5

U15 Girls

Millie Tomlinson bt
Sarah Dowson
9/2, 9/0, 9/0

Sophie Lemom bt
Emily Whitlock
9/4, 9/0, 9/7

Tesni Evans bt
10/8, 9/4, 6/9, 9/3
Lucy Townley

Harriet Ingham bt
Annabelle C-Ballands
9/4, 9/4, 9/4

Sat 24th, Day Two:
Quarter-Finals:
Chris Nutley reports

Oliver Pett (Sussex) became the only player outside of the top four seeds in all categories to make it to the Semi-Finals.

Oliver played some excellent squash to see off 3/4 seed Lewis Walters (Nottinghamshire) on the all glass court and for his endeavours earns a Semi-Final spot against No2 seed and current British Under 17 Champion Joe Lee of Surrey. Pett’s County colleague and No1 seed Tom Pashley plays Adrian Waller in the first Semi-Final.

Rachel Willmott (Sussex) is still on course to claim her eighth British title after a good 3-0 win over Kimberley Hay (Northumbria) in the Quarter-Finals. Rachel looked at ease on the all glass court and now faces Sarah-Jane Perry (Warwickshire) who has really pushed on over the last year and now looks a quality player in her own right. No2 seed Victoria Bell (Cumbria) also progressed comfortably and will face old rival Victoria Lust (Bedfordshire) in the other Semi-Final.

Millie Tomlinson (Derbyshire) and James Earles (Yorkshire) continued their impressive form and lived up to their No1 seedings with controlled and comprehensive victories in the Under 15 Quarter Finals. Millie eased past Sarah Dowson (Durham&Cleveland) and now faces Sophie Lemom in tomorrow morning's Semi-Final. In her three rounds so far Millie has dropped only 4 points, spending a mere 50 minutes on court in total. In the other Semi, Harriet Ingham (Surrey) will play Tesni Evans (Wales) after they completed victories over Annabelle Collins-Ballands (Kent) and Lucy Townley (Cheshire) respectively.

Earles was equally impressive in his win over Alex Lemom (Essex) and now faces Robert Downer (Hampshire) in his quest to reach the final and ultimately retain his Under 15 title. No2 seed Nicholas Hopcroft (Surrey) will play Phillip Waller (Hertfordshire) in the remaining Under 15 Semi-Final.

Another busy day at the NSC
Two rounds in each competition - starting at 9am - as the fields are whittled down to the semi-finalists.

In the last 16 rounds the main casualty occurred in the Boys Under 19 category when Surrey’s Alex Ingham fell victim to the lower seeded Adam Murrills. Alex always seemed to be chasing the game but did successfully fight back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to square the match at 2-2. However Adam was playing some fabulous squash and tied up the game 9-5 in the fifth. He now goes on to meet the Under 17 National Champion Joe Lee who earlier put an abrupt end to Chris Fuller’s great run.

The Girls Under 19 and Under 15 categories all went to seeding without any real drama.

From this evening's quarter-finals on the U19 matches are on the all-glass court.

Fri 23rd, Day One:
Fuller back on form
Chris Nutley reports

Chris Fuller created a minor upset as a long first day at the National Squash Centre drew to a close when he dumped 9/16 seed Ben Molyneux out of the Boys Under 19 event in straight games. Chris, the former 2003 British Under 13 Champion, has been out injured for over 18 months but seems to have put his troubles behind him and is playing great squash again – welcome back!

Hopcroft digs deep
The top seeds in both Under 15 draws have all moved into the last 16, but Nottingham’s Declan James almost created a major upset. Second seed and British Under 13 Champion Nicholas Hopcroft was facing elimination at two games down but dug deep to prevail 3-2 in 55 minutes. Boy’s Under 19 favourite Tom Pashley got off to an easy start to his campaign when local opponent Jordon Jozefczyk retired at two games down.

Aiming for Eight
Rachel Wilmott set out on her final British Junior Championships today, and should she be successful in retaining her U19 title it will mean an incredible 8 successes for the Sussex student ...
 
Battle of the Brothers
Yahia and Hussein Houta – twins from Surrey, were both originally on the reserve list for the Boys U15 event.

As we had two players withdraw they both got into the draw, but found themselves were pitted against each other! Hussein came through as the 3-1 winner over his slightly higher ranked brother and now goes on to play Alex Dakin of Warwickshire ..

Preview

After hosting the cream of the Britain's senior squash talent at the National Championships last week, the National Squash Centre in Manchester will open its doors this weekend to 170 of the country's top juniors for the British Under 19/15 Championships, from 23-25 February.

Sussex's Rachel Willmott will be defending the Girls' Under 19 title that she won at Bishop’s Stortford twelve months ago.  The 18-year-old No1 seed from Horsham will be hoping to claim her eighth National title to finish her junior career on a high.  Rachel’s main rivals are expected to be Victoria Bell, the reigning Under 17 champion and No2 seed from Cumbria; and 3/4 seeds Victoria Lust (Bedfordshire) and Sarah-Jane Perry (Warwickshire).

The Boys' Under 19 championship is expected to be highly competitive with three National title winners amongst the top four seeds.  Tom Pashley, the 2003 U15 champion from Sussex, starts as favourite, and is expected to meet Home Counties rival Joe Lee, the 2005 U17 champion from Surrey, in Sunday's final.  Stiff competition is also likely to come from 3/4 seeds Adrian Waller and Lewis Walters, from Hertfordshire and Nottinghamshire, respectively.

Former British Under 13 champion Millie Tomlinson, from Derbyshire, will start as red hot favourite in the Girls' Under 15’s as she looks to continue her dominance of her age group.  Surrey's Harriet Ingham is seeded to meet Millie in the final in what would be a repeat of the Under 13 final of 2005.

The Boys Under 15 category looks to be wide open with a good number of potential winners.  Defending champion James Earles is seeded to win his third National junior title in a row.  The 14-year-old from Yorkshire, who won the U13 crown in 2005, has earned the right to be top seed but has not had it all his own way recently.  Surrey's second seed Nicholas Hopcroft, together with 3/4 seeds Robert Downer (Hampshire) and Phillip Waller (Hertfordshire), will all be looking to take advantage.

The Championships involve a heavy schedule with matches running from 9.00am on Friday 23 February with the finals scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday 25 February.  Any visiting spectators will be welcomed free of charge.