Saturday saw players descend upon Squash Tigers for our first Rehearsal Tournament of the 2024/25 season… and it turned out to be an awesome day! With everything from JCT representatives 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 Coach Michael from our Philly club in good form defeating Shrikar, Eric and Arman 3/0, each in turn. Eric came second in the division after defeating Arman in a huge five game match, ending in a 15/13 tiebreak. From Eric's perspective, September has been a success already and this was a solid follow up from his 13/16th place in the CT JCT last weekend. Overall we witnessed a lot of good practice and good squash from all the boys.
Jesse defeated Sara in the final of D1 with Riya filling out the podium places. Jesse had an enjoyable match with Coach Huma from our Philadelphia Club, and although several levels below our pro, got a lot of good learning from the match which should hold him in good stead as he readies himself for his next Gold. The girls are both working hard each week, Sara in particular having improved considerably following a big summer of training at the club.
Division 2 saw girl power once more in action with Riyanshi victorious over our debutant Alice. Our U/11 phenom, Miss Riyanshi is one to watch, with Evan and Lily rounding out the draw. As a special treat Coach Colin played everyone in the division, giving them little tips as the day went along!
Overall a sterling event, with high standards of sportsmanship, skill and fellowship. Our next Rehearsal Event of the 2022/2023 season will be October 5 at our Philadelphia Club 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!
