The BOP Women’s Squash Team knew from the outset that it was going to be a big ask and a huge amount of drive to retain their National Inter-District Squash title. Before 2017, the Bay women hadn’t tasted success at the annual event for 36 long years. Now they sit atop the country with an enviable three titles in a row.
The team dominated the pool play defeating Eastern District 4-0 and Central District 3-1. In the finals pool play Auckland upset the seedings by defeating Waikato in a count-back. BOP then lined up against Auckland to keep their hopes alive. After three matches the Bay found themselves down 1-2 and needing a three-set victory in the last match to take the tie. Up stepped Lauren Clarke who never gave her opponent a sniff, clinching a clinical victory in straight games. This meant that the title was on the line in a crunch tie against the Mighty Waikato. The Waikato team’s misfortune of losing their no. 1 player Emma Millar due to injury turned into BOP’s good fortune. However, the players Joanna Shanks, Alana Kairaoi, Camden Te Kani-McQueen, and Lauren Clarke, did not take the Waikato side for granted stepping up to the plate beating them 4-0 to secure their NZ National Inter-District Teams Title for 2019, and for the third consecutive year.
The BOP Men’s team came into the event as 4th seeds. They saw off Central first up, before succumbing to a strong Canterbury side in the second round. This put our lads into a playoff for the 4th spot, which they duly clinched with two solid victories over Northland & Wellington.
2019 BOP Senior Squash Team:
| Women | Men |
|---|---|
| Joanna Shanks | Ben Grindrod |
| Alana Kairaoi | Glenn Templeton |
| Camden Te Kani-McQueen | Aaron Kopittke |
| Lauren Clarke | Paul Bedford |
| Vicki Beker | Ben Thornton |
| Katie Templeton (injured reserve) | Danny McQueen (player/coach) |
| Manager/Coach: Cheryl Te Kani-McQueen |
Women’s Results:
Pool Play:
Round 1: Bay of Plenty beat Eastern 4-0
Round 2: Bay of Plenty beat Central 3-1
Finals:
Bay of Plenty beat Auckland 2-2 (Games countback 7-6)
Joanna Shanks lost Lana Harrison 3-0
Alana Kairaoi lost Natalie Sayes 1-3
Camden Te Kani-McQueen beat Lisa Cowlard 3-0
Lauren Clarke beat Chelsea Johnson 3-0
Bay of Plenty beat Waikato 4-0
Joanna Shanks beat Anika Jackson 3-0
Alana Kairaoi beat Nadine Cull 3-0
Camden Te Kani-McQueen beat Georgie Robke 3-1
Lauren Clarke beat Sophie Hodges 3-0
Men’s Results:
Pool Play:
Round 1: Bay of Plenty beat Central 4-0
Round 2: Bay of Plenty lost to Canterbury 1-3
4th Place Playoffs:
Bay of Plenty beat Northland 3-1
Ben Grindrod beat Finn Trimble 3-0
Glenn Templeton beat John Khun 3-2
Aaron Kopittke beat Riley-Jack Vette-Blomquist 3-1
Paul Bedford lost to Max Trimble 0-3
Bay of Plenty beat Wellington 4-0
Ben Grindrod beat Jonathan Barnett 3-0
Glenn Templeton beat William Bicknell 3-0
Aaron Kopittke beat Kobe Fleming 3-2
Ben Thornton beat Kane Espinosa 3-1
