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Notable accolade for SA women at World Squash Champs

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South Africa may not have featured in the top eight but coach Paul Atkinson was delighted with their ninth place finish in the recent Women’s World Squash Championship in Cairo in Egypt after starting the tournament seeded 12th .

The final outcome saw the SA line-up of Alex Fuller, Lizelle Muller, Cheyna Wood and Hayley Ward being named the team of the tournament at the final prize-giving.

After losing to England and a competitive Hong Kong outfit in the group matches, SA set their sights on the top place in the 9-12 playoffs and achieved that goal with wins over Switzerland, Australia and Japan.

Atkinson said the final clash with Japan was indicative of the spirit that had built up in the team during the week as an outfit with only one full-time professional gradually came to grips with the demands of competing at a high level.

“After Alex, who had been really sick during the week, lost her match, we used our reserve Hayley Ward and she battled for the first two games,” he said.

“She was down 2-0 and struggling to implement the right game-plan, but suddenly she found her rhythm and dug really deep to eventually win 13-11 in the fifth.

“Then Lizelle went on and after powering through the first game, she lost her way a bit, but also find the right strategy and went on to win 3-1 for us to finish ninth.”

Atkinson added it was a special moment to be recognised as the team of the tournament, stemming from the country’s competitive domestic tournament, the Jarvis and Kaplan Cups, which place massive emphasis on teamwork.

“Typically, South Africans have always been pretty strong in the team events because we come from a rich team tradition from the Jarvis and Kaplan Cups, which has been played in our country for the last 55 years.

“We’re used to playing in these team environments and we thrive on it. But at the same time, none of our players are full-time professionals except for Alex Fuller. So we were always going to be under pressure against the other sides when three of our players play part-time and two of them are mothers with two and four children each.

“I think when you have people who do not play full-time and they put in a lot of sacrifices and give up a lot of things in order to train really hard to participate in a team event like this, and then the results show [the reward], it’s extremely satisfying and very proud for us as a small country.”

He added that South Africa had the talent and the infrastructure to compete at the elite level, but it was obvious that the players needed far greater exposure to international competition.

“It’s clear that we need to focus on making less errors and getting physically stronger, because international players have become exceptionally strong and there is so much volleying and playing drop shots,” Atkinson said.

“I would really like to see SA bid for one of these world championships. We had a phenomenal experience in Egypt – the whole razzmatazz was great – but we can match that in SA, so it would be great to see that happen.”

Squash - SA Team 2022
The SA side which won the team of the tournament award at the Women’s World Squash Championship in Egypt was, from left, Cheyna Wood, Hayley Ward, Alex Fuller, Lizelle Muller. Picture: Supplied

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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.