Setting the scene
Philadelphia hosted the catchily entitled 2024 Main Line Junior Gold this past weekend at three clubs down the length of Montgomery Avenue. The main venue was the salubrious 3 court Philadelphia Country Club (PCC), led up by one of the ever helpful and courteous Coach Russell, with nearby schools Haverford and Shipley used for several draws. One can only remark that the countryside around PCC was sufficiently picturesque to make anyone wish to take up golf, a sentiment that is seldom uttered by Squash Tigers coaches!
The BIG numbers
213 players from all over the country contested the ten draws
21 Squash Tigers competed
12 Quarterfinalists - 15% of all quarters had a Squash Tiger Representative!
4 Finalists
2 Winners
Congratulations to everyone who competed on what was a memorable weekend for the program.
The BOYS
Leading from the top, congratulations to JJ and Jonathan on winning the boys U17 and U15 respectively. For Jonathan this was his second BU15 Gold win of the season, backing up from his triumph at the Episcopal Academy in Winter. Big shout out to one of our big dog U11’s, Tony, who made the final of his event, losing a fifth game tie breaker but winning everyone’s admiration!
The BU17 is a draw worth delving into, with five of our players contesting the bracket. JJ won out, Eric achieved 5th, Shrikar 7 / 8, Edward with a solid win making 13/16 and Dhruv getting some valuable experience having recently aged up. JJ defeated his fellow Squash Tiger Eric in a quarter final, Eric going on to finish an impressive 5th, having defeated another Squash Tiger, Shrikar in a tough five game consol match. Shrikar recently won the Silver Nationals Title, played an epic quarter final match and had little left for the remainder - bigger things ahead!
The BU13 saw Leo, Evan, Dev and Jesse in the draw. Standout performance was Leo, fresh from his Silver Nationals fifth place, he achieved 6th in what was a tough event and Evan achieved 11/12 having aged up just a few days ago!
Our sole BU19 was Arman in a 6th place finish. Always wanting more, the big guy wasn’t thrilled, but played tough and will be better for the weekend's experience.
The GIRLS
Leading the pack was Meredith in the GU15 with her Silver Medal. Having just aged up from her top 3 GU13 season, she continues along her winning ways. Also deserving recognition was ST favorite Anya, who pulled into Bronze in the GU19 - well done Miss!
The GU13 was filled with action, giggles and five of our competitors! Chloe finished 5th, Sriya 7 / 8, Siddhi 13-16 and Anya and Shona in 19/20. All in all a formidable set of young ladies, getting better and better every week.
Finally a huge thank you to Coach Lyall who helped our Squash Tigers crew at Haverford and made everyone’s tournament experience just that little bit better! Next weekend brings the Boston Gold, so good luck to the dozen or so Tigers making the trek to the North. In squads we’re embracing (?) a LOB week and Spring training is well and truly in full flight.
Bigger things ahead and see you all at the club soon!
