Sweet 16th teams championship for Queensland as juniors dominate in Perth

They came, they played, they conquered - yet again.

Queensland's top juniors were tipped as hot favourites to take home yet another junior teams championship title and after a devastating display of skills, tactics and fierce determination over three days at Squashworld in Perth they delivered.

Hosts WA and NSW were, mathematically at least, best positioned to stop the Sharks' juggernaut going into the tournament's final day, but even that would have hinged on a virtual capitulation by the Queenslanders, who had also dominated the individual age group titles.

And with players of the calibre of Madison Lyon, Brendan MacDonald, Luke Eyles and Kurstyn Mather spearheading the older age brackets, this was as unlikely as snow in Perth in January.

Queensland split its first two opening matches against Victoria as the U13 girls took to the Mirrabooka courts but from then on they put the hammer down, winning 13 out of the next 14 matches and putting the overall title result out of reach for their interstate rivals. 

Victoria's Joanne Joseph (v Sarbani Maitra) and Patrick O'Shannessy (v Jack Hansen) gave their all for their state, clinching spectacular 5-game victories, but the Sharks had too much bite for their teammates.

Queensland Sharks manager Jules Wone was, naturally, thrilled that her team had backed up their title favouritism and "got the job done".

"We definitely had some really great wins in the individuals and they've followed through this all the way into the teams event to be champions of Australia,'' she said, admitting her charges were down on energy on the first day of teams competition but rose to the occasion.

"The side did feel a little bit exhausted on day one of the teams but these kids really wanted to play and they did an amazing job,'' said Wone, who tipped an exciting future for many of the team, either rising through junior ranks or exiting the age group divisions.

"We've got some really amazing U19 juniors exiting this year; Maddie Lyons is going to play again next year for sure, but we've got Luke Eyles (exiting the age group), he's sure to go on to do something really amazing; Brendan MacDonald has been playing since he was really young and he's going to have a future in squash, Kurstyn Mather has been doing a fantastic job for Queensland over many years and Sophie Fadaely, she's new to squash and just going amazing, she's playing PSA's, world juniors and just doing great."

The battle for overall second came down to NSW and WA and the Bluetongues, after dropping the first U13 girls match, sprinted out to a 5-1 lead before the Wasps were stung into action.

Eric Marsh and Aiden Finlay-Mulligan led WA's charge of four straight wins before William Slade shut out Waldo Vorster 3-0, giving NSW a 6-5 advantage.

But that was the end of NSW's run, with Daniel Marsh, Caitlin Pratt, Erin Classen, Dylan Classen and Oscar Curtis (the latter demolishing Kevin Willathgamuwa 11-1 11-2 11-1) racking up victories to seal the 12 points for WA and the championship runner-up medal.

Said Squash WA president Glenn Hitch: "It's a great effort from our team and what was also really great was the spirit that the tournament was played in; Queensland are a quality team and congratulations to them. But the spirit and energy this week showed junior squash is alive and well in Australia and it was great to get support from the City of Stirling and Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries to help us stage the event."

Victoria finished third in the tournament, backing up their seeding and a result that NSW head coach Gemma Wratten described as "fantastic".

"We actually really pushed WA hard this afternoon to make it into second; we had a number of matches go down to the wire and a number of players pulled out wins that weren't expected. Our kids dug deep and it was great to come home with the bronze."

Wratten had one word to describe her team's vibe: "Awesome."

As to whether there was 'something in the water' that keeps powering Queensland to dominate its interstate rivals, Wone singled out the "Sunshine State spirit".

"Queensland has got an amazing spirit and just a lot of great teamwork - really good people, the kids support each, they're well-behaved, they get to bed on time (although some of them could eat a few more veges) but all in all they're a great bunch of kids, good friends and they play for each other.''

Final standings

1 Queensland 72 points

2 Western Australia 65 points

3 New South Wales 55 points

4 Victoria 43 points

5 South Australia 30 points

6 Australian Capital Territory 6 points

For a full list of results, go to https://www.sportyhq.com/league/view/Australian-Junior-Championship-Teams-Event