EP U16A squash team brings home the gold

The EP U16A boys team showed grit and determination to win the provincial tournament held in Bloemfontein recently.

The team, made up of Dean Venter, Ethan Richardson, Ryan van Eyk, Ian Olivier and Breydon Kilian, won all their matches to win the tournament and bring home gold.

Their tournament started with a tough fixture against Western Province, which they managed to win 17-6.

This was followed by wins against Free State, Central Gauteng, Boland and Border, before their match against top seeds Northerns.

This was the match of the tournament, with Richardson and Van Eyk winning their matches, and Olivier and Kilian losing theirs.

At two matches each it meant that EP’s No 1, Venter, had to win against the Northerns’ No 1, Damian Groenewald, who is also the SA No 1.

Venter played the match of his life in front of a full grandstand, saving one match point, and going on to win 3-2 (12-10 in the fifth set).

That win ensured the team went into their next match against the No 2 seeds, SACD, with a lot of confidence, winning the match 17-5.

On the final day, EP had to beat KwaZulu-Natal to win the title.

In the first match of the day, Van Eyk was two love down against a highly-rated Richard Upfold, before coming back to win the match 3-2 (11-9 in the fifth set ).

Richardson and Venter went on to win their matches, the fixture and tournament.

Richardson, Venter and Van Eyk went through the entire tournament unbeaten.

The EP U16B boys ended sixth in the B section and the girls ended eighth.