Guts and strength take Alex through to win

A partially sighted, budding young squash player from Thame’s Racquets Fitness Centre, overcame his fear of a renowned opponent on Saturday (13/12), to make his mark in a one-day junior squash tournament for  juniors playing squash in and around Thame.

Alex Wright (top right) with his fellow junior squash tournement players

Playing in his first tournament, Alex Adams-Wright, 15, showed fantastic spirit taking on players with much more experience, winning through the round robin stage against three other regular and talented players, and then went on to play the club’s under 11, nationally ranked talent, 8 year old, Ollie Coulcher-Porter. Alex found that strength was a great help in this particular final and applied plenty of the new squash techniques from recent coaching, to win through.

Alex’s coach, Sue Martin-Downhill, said: “Alex has made great progress in his squash over the past two months and despite being partially sighted, he finds that this is a sport that he can really enjoy. His understanding of the game has improved such that he is able to compete against players who have been playing for much longer.”

The tournament was attended by 16 players, including one who had travelled from Sonning Common to join in. Luca Babb, who plays at Henley Squash Club, joined in with Roger Riddler’s Saturday morning squash coaching group and then followed that by winning the top grade. Although he won his matches in straight games, each of the games were very close.

Sue added: “All the players were extremely helpful throughout the tournament – all the matches were refereed by one of the other players with a few learning how to mark during the day. Learning how to mark is very good for helping children take charge of situations.

“In the beginners grade, Matthew Harper and Fionn Leaney had an exciting close game. Matthew just came through 3-2. Fionn started playing squash just six weeks ago and appears to be naturally talented with amazing hand- eye co-ordination. Matt, who has been playing a little longer, is a dedicated player who has shown that practice can really make a serious difference. Matt’s hand-eye co-ordination is now excellent and his coaches, Roger Ridler and myself, are looking forward to watching Matt grow into an exceptional player and to compete in more tournaments in the future.”

Sue concluded: “Racquets would like to thank Meritus International Hotels for their great prizes! The winners of each of the grades got Meritus Mobile device Battery packs and light pens, the Runners-up – battery packs and the others, light pens – the kids loves them!”

You can find out more about Racquets Squash coaching for all ages, by contacting Sue Martin-Downhill on 07860 328880, or emailing her via: sue@racquets-fitness-centre.com, or popping into Racquets Fitness Centre, North Street, Thame, OX9 3TH, phone: 01844 261754 and by visiting the website: www.racquets-fitness-centre.com