Chronicle Summer 2023

70 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Squash By Head of Racquets, Ross Gore

Its’s fair to say the Squash Club had a difficult period over the Spring Term having lost a number of players to other sports. We did have an influx of new young blood and several of our Shells proved a revelation during the course of the term, pushing a number of our senior players for their spaces.

Junior Squash One of the big highlights of the term was the performance of a group of Shells led by Will Skillbeck and Michael Diehl. Michael had played some squash in the US and Will at his previous school. Both players just got better and better throughout the term. One of the standout fixtures was away at Winchester College. Michael faced a tough challenge against a strong opponent but, not to be deterred, he was determined to show what he was made of. A fantastic match ensued with both players digging deep and even diving to get balls on occasion. Sadly, his opponent got the better in the final game but not before a notable crowd of pupils had gathered to watch such an

entertaining game. Theo Hanson, Callum Togher, and Ben Mattocks were regular members of the team and secured a good win against Oratory. The future of the Squash Club looks bright as we continue to find and develop young talent. Senior Boys For several of the senior girls and boys it was their final year. Special mention has to go to Xan Lytle who started in the Club as a Shell and has led the line for the boys for almost all of his playing time in the Club. Over the years Xan has made a fantastic contribution to the Club and has been

Gathoni Nesbitt

the player everyone looks up to. George Bradshaw, Charlie Spencer and Louis Millar had some great matches throughout the term with Charlie coming very close to victory on a number of occasions. Oakley Tocknell also shows great promise and helped to support the seniors team. Patrick Maxwell also contributed well both on and off the court delivering some brilliant match reports. Senior Girls The girls have made some of the best performance improvements of recent years. Tana Simkin, Gathoni Nesbitt, Bianca Rizzini-Bisinelli, Olga Muravitskaya and Anna Kolobova have really developed their games and were often seen doing extra practice and training together. Our win against Cheltenham Ladies’ College was one of the biggest successes of recent years. We played Wycliffe, Cheltenham College, Downe House and Cheltenham Ladies’ in a round robin competition. After lots of matches the numbers were crunched and the girls emerged triumphant. We will look to defend the title next year and hopefully bring back another trophy for the Squash Club. A number of our Lower Sixth players including Sonya Nikitova, Imo Sears and Haruno Watanabe also made some fantastic contributions throughout the term – the future of girls’ squash at Teddies looks bright.

Head of Racquets, Ross Gore, with Tana Simkin, Gathoni Nesbitt, Bianca Rizzini-Bisinelli and Anna Kolobova