SOUTH EAST ROMP TO VICTORY IN THE INTER AREA CHAMPIONSHIPS

The South East Area Team stormed to victory in the Inter Area Championships
held at the National Squash Centre in Manchester on the 8th & 9th April,
2006 with both boys and girls showing great strength in depth across all age
groups.

The six England Squash Areas of the South East, South West, Mid East, Mid
West, North East and North West were divided into two groups of three for
the first day's play with the South East team drawn against their eastern
counterparts from the Midlands and the North.

In the Boys under 13's despite coming unstuck in the first game of their tie
with the Mid East, with Hertfordshire's Nicholas Mulvey coming up against
the talented Adam Auckland, the Under 13's bounced back with victories from
Sussex's Freddie Possegger and Essex's Ross Brown. In the following match
against the North East the team dropped only one game to finish top of their
group after day one and qualify for the 1st place play-off on the second
day.

This was a familiar theme for the talented youngsters from the South East
and the Girls Under 13's dropped just one match from six with Sophie Lemom
from Essex leading the team of Surrey's Francesca Ritchie and Hampshire's
Catherine Finlayson.

In the Boys Under 15's the team had a tough opening against the Mid East
with both Hampshire's Phil Bull and Essex's Ben Coleman being pushed to five
games, before deservedly coming out on top. Nick Hopcroft sealed a 3-0
victory which was replicated by all three players in their second match
against the North East.

The Girls Under 15 Team of Harriet Ingham (Surrey), Bryony Johnson (Sussex)
and Annabelle Collins Ballands (Kent) had similar success against the Mid
East with a stunning victory without dropping a game. The opposition from
the North East proved slightly sterner, with Harriet being pushed to five
games before coming out on top. Bryony sealed victory with a 3-0 win before
Annabelle endured a tough match for the only reversal of the tie.

The Under 17's teams were in no mood to be the only teams not to top their
groups and despite Surrey's James Simpson coming unstuck against some strong
Nationally Ranked opposition, Oliver Dixon (Herts) and Stephen Wykes
(Sussex) ensured a top placed finish with both securing 3-0 victories in
both matches.

In the Girls Under 17's the South East Team ensured that all 6 South East
Teams secured top spot in the first day's leagues. Surrey's Jane Allman led
the way with 3-0 and 3-1 victories over her Mid East and North East
opposition, with valuable support from Middlesex's Lucie Colt recording a
victory against the Mid East. Emma Wardle, playing up an age group, put in a
determined effort before coming unstuck 3-2 in her first match, but followed
up with a determined 3-0 victory over the Northern opposition.

So it was on to day two with all six of the South East Teams competing for
the top spot against a mix of teams from the South and North West.

The Boys Under 13's came up against a strong young team from the South West,
though Nick Mulvey got them off to the perfect start with a 3-2 win.
Unfortunately both Freddie Possegger and Ross Brown were on the wrong end of
3-0 scorelines as the team took 2nd place in their age group.

The talented Under 15 Team were in no mood to record another 2nd place
finish to the South West and Phil Bull opened up with a solid 3-0 victory.
Nick hopcroft came unstuck in his encounter with the experienced Theodore
Anderson from Devon, but the inform Ben Coleman wrapped up the team's
victory with a 3-0 win.

In the final of the Under 17 Boys the South East were up against the North
West and immediately facing an uphilll struggle when James Simpson was
forced to withdraw. Oliver Dixon and Stephen Wykes then came up against the
talented Hibberd brothers and despite taking two and one games respectively,
the team fell a little short in second spot.

It was left to the girls to tie up some more top spots for the South East
and they could not have done any better. Amazingly the girls from the South
East won all three age groups with the Under 13's opening up in emphatic
fashion with three 3-0 victories over their opponents from the North West to
record 8 victories and just one loss over the weekend, a fantastic record.

In the under 15's Harriet Ingham found it one game to far as she lost out
3-2 against the phenomenal Emily Whitlock. The South East's strength in
depth then shone through as Harriet's team mates Bryony Johnson and
Annabelle Collins Ballands both posted 3-0 victories with only a couple of
dropped points each to seal another impressive win.

The final glory was left for the Under 17's with Jane Allman and Emma Wardle
dropping just one game each, whilst Lucie Colt signed off with a 3-0 victory
over an opponent just one place behind her in the rankings.

So it ended up 4 victories and 2 runners-up spots for the age group Teams
from the South East, allowing the South East Area to romp home to victory in
the overall team competition. A huge thanks goes to all the parents who
supported their talented offspring in attending and competing so admirably
in the tournament. With the array of skillful players at the South East Area
Academy closing fast on those players who made the South East Team this time
around, we look forward to the South East maintaining their number one spot for
many years to come. Youngsters aspiring to get involved at this level should
look out for notification of the 2006 South East Area Championships, where
they will get a chance to battle against the current crop of players and
impress the Area Coaching Team for selection to the South East Area Academy.

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