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Gqeberha pair fired up to land SA women’s doubles squash title

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Gqeberha’s national squash players Lizelle Muller and Hayley Ward will team up for the first time to challenge for top honours when the Tswalu South African Doubles Squash Championships take place in Johannesburg this weekend.

The tournament will be held at the Country Club Johannesburg courts in Auckland Park from February 24 to 26, and will see the cream of South Africa’s players gunning for the women’s, men’s and mixed titles.

Muller and Ward, who both represented South Africa at the African Championships and the Women’s World Championships last year, will be eyeing the women’s doubles title.

They have both shown their capability on the doubles court, with Ward taking the national title in 2021 with Kacey-Leigh Dodd and Muller joining forces with Cheyna Wood to triumph last year.

While they have not played together before, they know each other’s games extremely well and are relaxed about their approach to the event.

“We haven’t played together before but we will have a chat and work it out,” Muller said.

“There will be very strong competition but the one thing about doubles is that if you get your combination and teamwork right you can be very effective, even if you are slightly lower ranked.”

With both players capable of working hard, Ward said Muller would probably adopt a more attacking role.

“I may play a bit safer, but if the shot is on then you have to go for it,” she said.

What is not in doubt as that they are out there to take the honours.

“Oh yes, we are going there to win so will be giving it our best shot,” the pair exclaimed.

While a formidable array of champions litter the entry lists, the growing popularity of competitive doubles squash means the National Doubles Championships could be the most wide open event yet.

The incentive of potentially earning a chance to represent South Africa at the World Doubles Championships next year has seen the entries soar for the three-day tournament.

Tournament organiser and Squash SA national manager Jennifer Sawyer said they were delighted with the response from the players countrywide.

“It’s encouraging to see even our rising young stars, such as 16-year-old Luhann Groenewald, becoming involved in a national event of this stature,” she said.

It is players like the Pretoria teenager, among many others, who will be hoping to dethrone the defending champions as the excitement builds for the cracking pace of doubles squash.

But standing in the way of these young pretenders will be the elder statesmen of SA squash in Christo Potgieter (35) and JP Brits (31), who will be aiming for a hat-trick of men’s titles.

In the women’s section Wood will team up with SA’s top-ranked player in Alex Fuller, the world No 25, and they will pose a serious threat to Muller and Ward.

The mixed event will see Potgieter and Wood eyeing another title, but they will face proper competition from Brits and Fuller, who warmed up for the Nationals with a dominant display to win the mixed section in the 20th edition of the St Francis Bay Invitational in the Eastern Cape town at the weekend.
Brits is excited about the prospects which lie ahead as he discussed the state of the doubles game in SA squash.

“South African squash is very healthy in terms of the doubles game, because we have developed an expansive and creative style of play,” Brits said.

“When we play in the Worlds, you can definitely see a different approach to the other countries, who tend to be a bit more conservative.

“I firmly believe it’s something we can use to boost our squash because we can have an impact at an international level.”

He is also relishing the chance of partnering a lifelong teammate in Potgieter.

“Christo and I have known each for many years,” he said. “We have trained together and toured together – at one stage I saw him more than I saw my wife!

“So we know each other inside out and I feel we are like one brain on the court – we know exactly what the other one is doing.”

He realised there would be serious competition from their rivals, given the opportunity to attend the Worlds.

“But we are ready for that and looking forward to the challenge.”

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.