It is almost three years ago at the Tournament of Champions that Olivia Blatchford approached James Willstrop for an autograph, from which incidental meeting has developed a tale probably worth the telling.

At the following Tournament of Champions - won by Anthony Ricketts - the contact was strengthened and from that time Olivia was to make several visits to Pontefract to practice and train. It hardly took much recognising that she is a player of infinite promise, but more significant was the fact that she wanted to play the game in a professional way and not to assist entry to Harvard, Yale or Princeton.

Then later father Peter mentioned to me that there were thoughts of Olivia continuing her education and squash career in England. Clearly, because she already fitted in well at Pontefract and had friends there, it struck me that nearby Ackworth School, an independent Quaker school where James spent ten happy years, was the solution.



The school were delighted at the possibility of having her and during a visit in November she sat and passed the entrance exam.

The next development was that Cindy, wife of Pontefract supreme Mick Todd, offered to have Olivia live with them so that she could be a day girl and so that her daily squash routine would be simpler.

Needless to say the Blatchfords, Peter and the loquacious Elizabeth, have been overwhelmed by all that has happened and the whole family, including delightful younger sister Georgina and hyperactive brother Ian, have been at Pontefract over Christmas and the New Year.

They enjoyed New Year's Eve at the club, where Peter has developed a strong liking for John Smith's, and where at 2am plus he failed to complete any one of a hundred sentences.

So with Olivia set to start at Ackworth next September, with Elizabeth as happy as any mother could be at the prospect of her daughter leaving the nest, it is hard to imagine that things could get better. But, as the song says, just occasionally in life, 'dreams really do come true', and what was to follow is the stuff of fairy tales.

Seeded 5/8 Olivia went to Sheffield to pit herself against the world's best in the British Open Girls Under 15.

She played very well to beat second seed Yan Xin Tan of Malaysia in the quarter-finals and having been 2-0 up was taken the full distance in the semi-final against Egyptian Nour El Tayeb on Saturday morning.

So to Saturday afternoon's final against another of the so talented Malaysians, Wee Nee Low, who had eliminated the top seed.

Olivia held control in a well contested first game and won it, but quickly went well down in the second as Wee Nee played some marvellously attacking squash to level at one-all. The Malaysian continued to hold sway, went 2-1 up and in a thrice was 7-0 up in the fourth.

All appeared lost for Olivia, but the final twist was as dramatic as it was incomprehensible. Wee Nee served out and suddenly, inexplicably, her game disintegrated as Olivia regained her first game confidence. Sweeping through the game, urged on by a posse of Pontefract supporters, she was two all.

There was no stopping her now and, always ahead in the fifth, she won a final of a high quality and high drama in which the Malaysian girl played a full part.



The night was spent in celebration at a Pontefract restaurant, the Blatchfords and their Pontefract supporters and friends, with Olivia the toast of the town.

Yes, dreams really do come true …

 
REPORT ON THE FINAL