Junior County Closed
JUNIOR COUNTY CLOSED 2011.
This season Junior County Closed took place over the weekend 24th/25th of September at The Northumberland Club in Jesmond. The event was sponsored by D.B. GLAZIERS and DUNLOP. There was almost 100 entrants competing over 11 events.
The youngest age group was a mixed under 9 event. With 10 youngsters competing over two hours on Sunday afternoon. The final was between 2 Northumberland club juniors Dan Neill and Ali Little. Neill was the victor beating Little 2-0.
The girls under 11 event had 6 competitors, Erin Vitty and Lowri Waugh won their round robin groups and advanced to the final. Vitty fresh from victory in the regional closed 2 weeks previous was to take her second win of the season winning 14/12, 11/4, 10/12,11/6 against Waugh.
The Boys under 11 was a 16 draw with Max Forster topping the seedings. Forster duely progressed to the final against number 2 seed from Tynemouth Lewis Follin. Follin started well taking the first game but Forster came back strongly taking the next 3 and the title , 9/11, 11/0, 11/8, 11/5.
The Plate final was won by Tim Charteris beating Nathan Dobson 11/8, 11/4, 11/7.
The girls under 13 again went to seeding with the Laura Neill meeting Georgia Webster in the final. Webster showed how much she has improved recently taking the first game from the always impressive Neill to put the pressure on but Neill came back with some very composed squash to take the next 3 and the u13 title, 9/11, 12/10, 11/6, 11/8.
Plate won by Daisy Dobson beating Amy Rowell, 8/11, 11/2, 12/10, 11/3.
The boys under 13 event was won by big favourite Michael Mattimore , he met Joe Wareing in the final. The final was at times of very high quality with Wareing playing like he can and extending Mattimore for spells but Mattimore’s quality brought him through to win in 3 games. 11/7, 11/6, 11/5.
Plate was won by Manav Chopra beating James Appleby 11/1, 11/4, 14/12
The girls u15 final was between top seed Charlotte Cooper and Laura Neill competing in her second final of the day. Cooper had narrowly lost out in the regional finals 2 weeks before but put that behind her to take the county title beating her younger opponent 11/9, 11/6, 11/3.
Plate event was won by Tegan Younger beating her Northern team mate Ellie Watling 13/11, 5/11, 11/4, 11/4.
Boys under 15 was to be the start of a fantastic day for Tynemouths Jamie Todd. Todd has been on fantastic form at the start of the season already having won an england squash event in York. Todd had a little bit of luck as Dan Wareing got injured against him in the semi-final but he made the most of this luck and convincingly beat number 2 seed Alex Robertson in the final . 11/8, 11/8, 11/1.
Plate was won by Philip Stephenson beating Sam Broughton 8/11, 13/11, 11/9, 12/10.
Girls under 17 only had 2 entrants but they produced a match of high pace and quality. Favourite was Maria Bainbridge and she was to be the winner against Charlotte Cooper but there were spells when Cooper pushed her hard and there were some fantastic rallies, final score 11/7, 11/6,11/8 to Bainbridge.
The Boys under 17 was to be where Jamie Todd’s fantastic day was completed with a very unexpected but in the end comfortable win. Todd only dropped one game through the whole event where he beat Elliott Carr 12/10, 11/8, 11/9 in the final to complete the double.
The plate was won by Sam Birch-machin beating James Dark 3-0.
Like the girls u17 the under 19 was a straight final between the under 17 winner Maria Bainbridge and defending champion Sam Ward. Ward after representing England at the world junior championships this summer was on good form but Bainbridge pushed her very close in the first 2 games before tiring to go down 3-0 Ward winning her last junior closed 11/9, 11/9 , 11/3,
The boys under 19 event was a round robin of 5 players. It was to be Mark Dinsley who took the title, he had obviously put in some hard work over the summer and looking fitter, stronger and more determined than the other competitiors as he won all of his games to take his first ever county title.
JUNIOR COUNTY CLOSED 2010.
This years Junior County Closed took place over the weekend 25th/26th of September at The Northumberland Club in Jesmond. Again the event was sponsored by DB GLAZIERS and there was a big entry with 95 players.
With such a big entry matches started very early with one match completed before 8am on the Sunday morning!
The first event to be decided was the mixed U9 event, played in a round 
robin format the eventual winner was last years finalist Max Forster who beat Harry Little in the final 3 games to 0.
Laura Neill played in 2 events, the girls U11 and U13’s, she won them both without dropping a game! This is a great achievement and she has recently been invited to an U11 England squad which shows the level she is reaching at such a young age.
The boys U11 seen Joe Wareing capture an amazing hat-trick of U11 titles, he comfortably won all of his games and beat Tynemouth’s Matthew Walsh in the final, Walsh had upset number 2 seed Lewis Follin in the semi-final.
In the Boys U13 event Tynemouths newly crowned Regional Champion Jamie Todd was a big favourite, he coasted into the final where he met number 2 seed Michael Mattimore, it was 3-0 to the dominant Todd but Mattimore will return next year in the same event and will take some stopping.
The Girls U15 was a round robin of 5 players and it came down to the very last match to decide the victor. This match was between Emma Haley and Charlotte Cooper, they had shared victories over each other in recent times so it was always going to be close. In the end Haley played just that bit better in the tight situations and took the title wining 3-1.
The Boys U15 event had the biggest entry and also the most drama. The top 2 seeds Simon Grabham and Elliott Carr failed to make it to the final, they lost to Lewis Wake and Andrew Walsh respectively. The final in the end was contested between the 3rd and 4th seeds, Andrew Walsh and Dan Wareing. The final stayed in character with the whole U15 event, it was so close and swayed one way then the other, Wareing led all of the way until the determined Walsh played an almost error free fifth game to take the title winning 3-2.
The girls U17 was won by the always impressive Lucy Beecroft, Beecroft tops the national rankings at U15 level and was too strong even for Maria Bainbridge who herself is amongst the best in the country, in the end 3-0 to Beecroft.
The Boys U17 had a wideopen feel about it with around 6 players in with a realistic chance of winning, however in the end it was the top 2 seeds who made it to the final but neither smoothly with many 3-2 and 3-1 matches along the way. The top seed was Elliott Park and he played Simon Grabham who had survived a match point against him in the quarter-finals against Elliott Carr. Park lived up to his seeding beating Grabham in 3 close games.
The Girls U19 event was a 3 way round robin of a very high standard. Sam Ward was top seed and had to beat off the challenge of her younger opponents Lucy Beecroft and Maria Bainbridge. Ward in the end did this very impressively winning both matches 3-0 and taking the title.
The last event was the boys U19 event, again the top 2 seeds made it through to the final which was a repeat of last years close U17 final. The finalists were Harry Carr and Cole Windscheffel, again it was the closest of finals and this time Carr gained revenge taking the title winning 3-2.
Click here for completed draws.
MU9 – Max Forster bt Harry Little
GU11 – 1st Laura Neill, 2nd Erin Vitty
BU11 – Joe Wareing bt Matthew Walsh
plate – Dylan Jenkinson bt Harry Little
GU13 – Laura Neill bt Josie Barker
plate – Alex Carr bt Tegan Younger
BU13 – Jamie Todd bt Michael Mattimore
plate – Cameron Hamiltonbt Tim Blake
GU15 – 1st Emma Haley, 2nd Charlotte Cooper
BU15 – Andrew Walsh bt Dan Wareing
plate- Jamie Todd bt Josh Askew
GU17 – Lucy Beecroft bt Maria Bainbridge
plate – Beth Robertson bt Ingrid Sorensen
BU17 – Elliott Park bt Simon Grabham
plate – Ed Atkinson bt Joe Laidler
GU19 – 1st Sam Ward, 2nd Lucy Beecroft
BU19 – Harry Carr bt Cole Windscheffel
plate – Joel Birch Machin
