Blood, sweat and cheers as team clashes save best until last

There may be no 'I' in team but there were some inspired individual performances - spurred on by a boisterous crowd - on day one of the Australian Junior Team championships at SquashWorld Mirrabooka.

On paper, heavyweights Queensland look the side most likely to claim an astonishing 16th title since 2003 (only WA and NSW, once each, have prevented total Sunshine State dominance), and they got off to the best possible start, rolling a depleted ACT side in the morning opening round without dropping a game.

However in the afternoon NSW were out to spoil the party in their squash version of  "State of Origin".

That clash was tipped to go right down to the wire, and so it proved.

Queensland led 4-3 before their rivals went on a four-match tear, with Kasper Cheung, Sophie Simpson, Emmy Lamb and William Slade all racking up wins to take a 7-4 advantage.

Quensland's Sophie Fadaely and Kurstyn Mather got their team back to 6-7 before NSW edged ahead 8-7 with straight game wins to Josh Forgan and Luke Eyles - and a potential victory seemingly in their grasp.

The tie hinged on a knife edge as Joshua Raj (QLD) took on James Slade in what turned out to be arguably the best match of the week.

It had everything; blood (Raj cut his hand in one of his dives across the court), sweat (Raj had to play in a teammate's shirt as his was too sweat-logged to wear) and cheers, fans and teammates in both camps roaring on the combatants.

Raj took the first 11-6, dropped the next 11-4 and then the pair went into epic mode, with multiple game points saved on both sides before Slade clinched it 16-14 in nearly 20 minutes. 

Raj, diving all over the place to make some incredible retrieves, roared back to take the fourth 11-8 but some errors, and Slade's never-say-die attitude, were the difference in the fifth as Slade clinched it 11-8. The result meant the tie was locked at 8-8, but the Queenslanders took the overall points by the barest of margins - just three games.

The match was, remarkably, one of only two out of 66 matches on day one to go the full five-game distance.

Another to dig deep in the same tie was New South Wales' Sophie Simpson, an 11-6 11-7 4-11 12-10 winner over Isis Knight.

Hosts Western Australia got off to a slow start in their afternoon clash with South Australia, Vera Bruce and Teagan Scott losing to twin sisters Olivia van Zon and Nadia van Zon respectively but from then on it was pretty much one-way traffic, WA finishing 12-4 winners, the same margin as their victory over Victoria in the opening round.

In the other afternoon match, Victoria defeated ACT 6-3.

Team leaders and state coaches say the championships, being contested by Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, the ACT, South Australia and New South Wales, are invaluable for forging team ethic, honing competitive skills, comparing progress in peer/age groups - and as preparation for the World Junior Team Championships to be held in Australia next year.

New South Wales Junior State Head Coach Jemma Wratten said: "We're coming in as the third seed, and that's how we aim to finish. This championship gives them a really good target for next year (world champs). A lot of the players will be looking towards their 12-month plan and really start to work towards that for those athletes - and, if they don't play it, just to go and see."

Victoria State Coach Anthony Hill, who reached No. 5 in the world during his playing days, said Melbourne looked the likely venue for the 2023 world champs and he had high hopes Australia could regain its standing in the competition.

"I'm really looking forward to getting some of our kids up and running for this; I've played in two world juniors in my lifetime, and the Australian team won it both years, and hopefully if we bring it back to Melbourne we can win it back again," said Hill.

He said the world champs brought unparalleled intensity to junior squash. 

"The standard is unbelievable; you are looking at u13 kids on the world stage who would be good enough to beat most of our u17 kids here.

"We have dropped a little bit in standard; but we're getting it back. What I've seen here (in Perth) in the junior boys and junior girls, u17 and u19 we are getting back to our standard. Still not as high as the coaches would like but we are getting back there," said Hill.

"There are a lot of coaches here pushing for the same goal - getting our kids back on top."

Queensland Sharks manager Jules Wone said Queensland had got off to a great start against ACT (they didn't drop a game) but faced tougher opposition in New South Wales.

"Just like the (rugby league) State of Origin, we definitely want to win."

Wone said with a long history of being the Australian team champion, Queensland hoped to repeat the success but it was also important that kids could get back out on court and "have some fun".

"The more that kids can play on a national stage, the more they're going to get used to playing these big matches, getting used to the nerves, the atmosphere, being watched, having audiences and that pressure that it can bring. So it's a really good run into the worlds. It's a pity we can't have more of it as kids' sport is tough but if you want to be the best and elite you need this type of competition."

Team points standings after two rounds

1 Western Australia 28

2 Queensland 28

3 New South Wales 22

4 Victoria 19

5 South Australia 8

6 ACT 3

Match schedule for Saturday October 1

From 9am

NSW v Vic

QLD v SA

WA v ACT

From 1pm

QLD v WA

Vic v SA

NSW v ACT

See the full schedule and follow the results HERE