After reaping great success over the past year, St Paul’s Collegiate School’s squash team is eyeing wins at the NZ Junior National Individual Age Group Championships in Invercargill in October.
Temwa Chileshe (Year 10) has been a standout performer for the school. Winning the South Island and Waikato Age Group competitions as well as placing second in the North Island and sixth in the Oceania events. His impressive feats landed him the honourable spot as number one male for the New Zealand Junior Team, which competed against Australia last week in the Trans-Tasman Trophy.
The year 10 student headed across the ditch for the week-long event, which took place from Monday 24 August to Friday 28 August.
“Being number one will be more challenging. I will be up against better skilled players,” Chileshe said.
Chileshe was slightly nervous, moving from a number three spot in last year’s competition to top spot in this year’s event, but the young squash player was optimistic picking New Zealand to win – and he was right. New Zealand won 85 of the 90 matches played, taking out the competition title for the second consecutive year.
Chileshe competed against Australia’s number one junior players during the competition and also played a few doubles matches. The 15-year-old won all games convincingly, including a 3-2 win against Jacob Ford who placed second at the junior Oceania competition this year.
Chileshe’s wins come off the back of a successful season for the St Paul’s squash team. In August, the team competed at the National Secondary Schools Championships in Palmerston North where the boys A team were seeded fifth of 32 competing teams (Lwamba Chileshe, Temwa Chileshe, Sam Wilson, Hugo Brown, Hugh Jackson).
The A team cruised through the first two rounds 5-0 against Hawera and 4-1 against Sacred Heart from Auckland. Quarter final opponents were locals Palmerston North Boys High. St Paul’s lost the match 4-1 but followed with two wins which secured the team a fifth placing. In the same competition, the boys A team and girls team combined score of 23 points awarded them the Co-Ed Cup.
Moving forward, St Paul’s junior squash players will compete at the NZ Junior National Individual Age Group Championships.
Chileshe will move to number 10 in the under-17 division from number two in the under-15 division. The young squash player is looking forward to some new competition and is aiming to move his way back up the ladder to a top position during the competition.
“I will move from being number two in the under-15s to about tenth in the under-17s so it’s quiet a big jump. There are a few people I am aiming to beat.”
Both Temwa Chileshe and brother Lwamba Chileshe (Year 11) will also compete as members of the Waikato under-19 squad in the teams event of the NZ Junior National Individual Age Group Championships.
