2 October, 2019

Belmont win national squash championships in thriller

A team from Belmont Park Racquets Club won the national D-grade squash champs in Whangarei last weekend in a nail-biting finish. In a dramatic final against Mt Maunganui, with the scores locked two-all, Jua’ Lin Ganess saved two championship points in the fourth game of the final match before taking out the fifth – and the title. Earlier Belmont had fallen behind two-nil, before number one Ben Forde turned the tide, followed by a win by Jack Adams and then the victory by Ganess.

Three of the team were in Belmont’s 2018 E-grade national winning team. The D-grade final this year was something of a repeat of the E-grade final, where Belmont also played Mt Maunganui. Manager Hayden Adams hopes the nucleus of the side will stay together for a crack at the C-grade championship in 2020. The team was coached by Sam Sayes, with Tony Forde as physio. It was a strenuous few days for the team who played Manaia, Island Bay and Mt Manganui in pool play, before Kamo in the semi-finals and Mt Maunganui in the finals.

This article originally appeared in the September 20 edition of the Devonport Flagstaff. Download PDF.