Saturday saw players descend upon Squash Tigers for our first Rehearsal Tournament of the 2023/24 season… and it turned out to be an awesome day! With everything from JCT contenders right through to players who are yet to begin their US Squash Tournament careers, there was something for everyone. The day saw great skill, sportsmanship and friendship up and down the courts!
For those of you new to the Squash Tigers world, as background, Rehearsal Tournaments are:
“ … in-house events conducted at SQUASHTIGERS! For the 2023-24 season (Sep 2023 thru May 2024), the Rehearsal Tournament Series comprises 9 tournament events. The Rehearsal Tournament Circuit attracts entries from top juniors. It also provides a great home for beginners to gain rehearsal before they step out into the US Squash ranking world. Players play a minimum of three and a maximum of four matches on a Saturday, commencing first thing and concluding early afternoon. The event does not count towards rating or ranking, so players may be relaxed enough to develop their games in a friendly environment, yet serious enough so that they will be ready for the wider world when they get out there!
Premier Division saw Jamie in top form defeating an always tough Alex in the final. Jamie has been putting in the work of late, having jumped back into the PSA world after his summer training hiatus. Alex was skillful in the final in what was ideal preparation for next weekends Philly JCT and defeated the always game Arman in the semi finals. Arman was one of the real standouts of the day, defeating Claire and JJ in what was a solid run through the event. Premier Division was filled out by Eric, Claire, Adam and Arjun who filled the 5-8 respectively after their qualifying victories.
Jonathan defeated Anika in the final of D1, getting over his qualifying loss to Adam and getting back to his winning ways. Anika on her behalf played solid squash throughout, with her match with Madeleine being one of the standouts of D1. Leo, Jayden, Evan, Siddhi and Ethan filled out the bracket having all won through solid qualifying matches to get into contention.
Jonah dominated D2 with his improved driving game and some excellent movement. Shoutout to our girls contingent, Audrina and Alison who will be better players for their five matches! Jonah shared the podium with Ansh and Dean, who were the 2nd and 3rd place finishers respectively, slightly edging out Yohan.
Overall a sterling event, with high standards of sportsmanship, skill and fellowship. Our next Rehearsal Event of the 2022/2023 season will be October 21 and you can expect to get a direct mailout reminding you to enter. As always, the events are perfect opportunities to get matches, matches and more matches to prepare for the rigors of US Squash Junior Circuit competition. There are few junior US Squash events of note on that particular weekend, so please be aware that we cap our entries at the first 50 players to register, so if you intend to compete, sooner rather than later is the best way to avoid disappointment!
For our Rehearsal Tournament crew, see y’all in October for the next installment in the odyssey… and for our regular Squash Tiger crew, see you at training tomorrow!
