As expected, Rod Hayes took the South Island under-19 squash title in Christchurch yesterday but the final against Paul McFadzien was very disappointing.
Both are players of considerable promise and have a wide array of strokes but these were seldom in evidence and there were far to many loose shots for juniors of their high standards. The two finalists, both members of the Christchurch club, have played together a great deal and this combined with the surfeit of squash Hayes had had in recent weeks gave a rather too “friendly” atmosphere, with few signs of real competitiveness. Most rallies were shorter than would normally be the case and only in the final stages of the second game- which McFadzien levelled at 9-9, after trailing 1-8- did the play rise above the relatively mediocre standard. Hayes took this game after winning a long rally in which both made some amazing retrieves. It is to be hoped that they return to their best form in their tours of Australia which begin very soon.Hayes is a member of the national junior side, McFadzien, together with another Canterbury junior, Barrie Matthews, has been selected for the New Zealand Universities team.
The top seeded girl, Pip Monk, climbed out of her sickbed-where she had spent nine days ill from a viral infection- and beat Mary Anne Redpath. A weak Miss Monk- she could barely lift a racquet at times- fought bravely to win the first two games after being behind 4-8 in the first and 3-7 in the second, and took the match in four games after dropping the third.
Miss Redpath played a very good short game but Miss Monk managed to hit enough of her shots with her usual authority to keep her opponent away from the front court when it really mattered.
Easily the best display of the day was provided by the under 17 boys’ finalists, Robin Clements and Stuart Davenport. Neither was able to exert his superiority for long and although the diminutive Davenport-winner of the national under 13 title for the last two years-led by two games to one and 7-3 in the fourth, Clements took the match 10-9 in the fifth after several entralling rallies.
Boys Under 19: Semi Final R Hayes (Christchurch) beat B Matthews (Christchurch) 9-7 9-6 6-9 10-9; P McFadzien (Christchurch) beat J Fraser (Richmond WMC) 9-2 9-0 9-1. Final Hayes beat McFadzien 6-9 10-9 9-5 9-3
Under 17; Semi finals C Wasley (Burnside) beat G Falloon 9-0 9-0 9-1; P Davenport beat M Glazebrook (Christs College) 9-6 9-1 9-1 Final Wasley beat Davenport 9-1 9-0 9-0
Under 15 Semi Finals; S Davenport (Burnside) beat G Utteridge (Christchurch) 9-0 9-4 9-0; R Clements (Christchurch) beat J Bushell (Burnside) 9-3 9-1 9-0 Final Clements beat Davenport 1-9 9-7 4-9 10-8 10-9
Girls Under 19
Semi finals; P Monk (Christchurch) beat C Oakley (Christchurch) 9-5 9-0 9-2; M Redpath (Otago) beat M Stemmer (Sumner ) 9-0 9-1 9-3 Final Monk Beat Redpath 10-8 10-8 5-9 9-3.
