OCEANIA SQUASH INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – FINAL DAY

The Individual Events commenced on Wednesday with 24 male and 10 female entries.  Local players not in the official Norfolk Team were encouraged to enter  which attracted a further 10 players, 3 of these up and coming junior boys – Aidan Rowston, Beau Magri and Curtis Buffett. On Thursday the spectator numbers were boosted by the arrival of pupils from the school who were treated to an exciting match between Beau and the New Caledonian Manager.  Beau was victorious to the delight of the students.

The Semi-Finals and Finals were held on Friday.   The Mens Event went true to form with the top 4 seeds contesting the Semi Finals and No. 1 & 2 seeds contesting the Finals.  Defending champion, Laurent Guepy from New Caledonia, played a tight and exciting match against his compatriot and younger opponent, Nicolas Massenet, to take out the Mens Individual Champion Title once again.  Samoa’s Semo Old, the No. 3 seed, took out the Bronze Medal and made Oceania Championship history winning the first ever Individual Medal for Samoa in the long history of the Championships (1980 – 2013).

In the Womens Event the New Caledonian players were just too strong for the local and once again the defending champion, Christine Deneufbourg, was just too strong for the opposition.  However No. 3 seed, Christelle Nagle, also from New Caledonia, fought hard and pushed Christine all the way going down in 5 games.

The Presentation of Trophies for both the Team and Individual Events followed the Mens Final Match.  Medal presenters included the Norfolk Island Minister of Sport, Tim Sheridan; President of the Norfolk Island Amateur Sports Association, Dennis Stirling; Carol Kawaljenko, Executive Officer of Oceania Squash Federation and Sandra Tinkler, Tournament Referee.

Final Results

An enjoyable Presentation Dinner was held on Friday evening at the Leagues Club who were major sponsors of the event.  Locally handcrafted mementos were presented to the Team Managers of the visiting member countries, who reciprocated with thank you gifts to the Norfolk Island Squash President.  In addition a plaque made of local Norfolk pine was presented to Oceania Squash Federation.  OSF also presented a plaque to the Norfolk Island Squash community thanking them for hosting the 2013 Oceania Championships.

Congratulations to Jordan Chewlit from Samoa who was awarded the Phillip Cridge Most Improved Player Award for the Championships.  Again, this is the first time that a Samoan has taken out this coveted award.

The next Oceania Championships will be held in conjunction with the 2015 Pacific Games which will be held in Papua New Guinea.

Oceania Squash take this opportunity to thank the Norfolk Island Squash Community, and especially NI Squash President Mal Tarrant, for their great organisation and hospitality to the visiting players and officials for the duration of the Championships. 

Also to the New Caledonian Coach, David Navarre, who conducted a training session for Norfolk Island’s junior players on Saturday morning before catching his plane home, a big thank you for your support of junior squash within the Region.

A copy of the completed draws and final placings can be viewed here 

Jordan Chewlit receiving the Phillip Cridge Award from Mr Gary Robertson, previous Vice President of OSF

Mens Individual Winners (L-R) : Nicolas Massenet (New Caledonia) - Silver Medallist; Laurent Guepy (New Caledonia) - Gold Medallist; Semo Old (Samoa) – Bronze Medallist; Craig Marriott (Norfolk Island) – Plate Winner

Womens Individual Winners (L-R) : Kristelle Nagle (New Caledonia) – Silver Medallist; Christine Deneufbourg (New Caledonia) – Gold Medallist; Sylvaine Durand (New Caledonia) – Bronze Medallist

Mens Team Event – Gold Medallists : New Caledonia

L-R : Fabian Dinh, Laurent Guepy, Stephane De Gaillande, Nicolas Massenet, Alex Collenot, David Navarre (Coach)

Mens Team Event – Silver Medallists : Samoa
L-R : Semo Old, Ivan Chewlitt, Jordan Chewlit, Chad Rankin, Jobenz Manoa

Mens Team Event – Bronze Medallists : Norfolk Island
L-R : Duncan Gray, Mal Rundell, Bart Murray, Gye Duncan, Peter Christian-Bailey

Womens Team Event – Gold Medallists : New Caledonia
L-R : Christine Deneufbourg, Sylvaine Durand, Kristelle Nagle, Kareen Hamou

Womens Team Event – Silver Medallists : Norfolk Island

L-R : Carolyn Douran, Renee Webster, Becky Nobbs, Debby Adams