Westlake Boys High School Premier Squash stamped its class by becoming New Zealand Champions at the 2015 New Zealand Secondary Schools Squash Championships held in Palmerston North from 7-9 August. This year’s competition included 32 schools in the boys division and 19 schools in the girls division. A staggering 590 matches were played over three days making it one of the biggest junior squash events in New Zealand.
Coming in as the boys’ top seeds, the team had to face the challenge to overcome favourites Tauranga Boys College, the three year reigning champions, before they could live up to their number one seeding and win the title. Westlake proved to be a team on a mission and were relentless throughout the early rounds, showing why they were the top seeds by winning all their matches 5-0. This was in preparation for their highly anticipated showdown against the 2012-2014 champions Tauranga Boys College.
On finals day, the opener saw Westlake drawing first blood through the hard fought victory of sixth form student David Matthews. It was a battle which saw Matthews never giving up and carving out a well-deserved 3-2 victory to put Westlake ahead 1-0. Next on court was fourth form student Gabe Yam who came up against a much bigger and higher graded seventh former. Gabe was able to put up a good fight against his opponent and managed to take a game before going down 1-3. With the score between schools now at one all, Westlake’s top player and team captain Rafa Yam faced his Tauranga Boys counterpart, the current New Zealand number two ranked junior. This was always going to be a tough one and although Rafa fought hard and was getting ahead in the early stages of the games, the captain missed out on the win which put Tauranga Boys ahead of Westlake at 2-1.
Seventh form student Stuart Martin, in his last appearance for the team, ended his stint on a high, winning comfortably by defeating his opponent in straight sets. Stuart’s win put the score at two all, making the next match the decider as to who would get to take the title and be crowned as 2015 New Zealand Champion.
Westlake’s hope of dethroning and wrestling the title away from the champions now rested on the shoulders of fourth form student Matthew Lucente. The pressure didn’t seem to bother Matthew who played accurately and in control throughout the match even though he was facing an older opponent who had beaten him in all their past meetings. There were some tense moments in the match, but Matthew remained focused and undeterred until the end to finally clinch the win for Westlake in a remarkable straight set victory.
Westlake’s Headmaster Mr. David Ferguson and Academy of Sport Director Mr. Andrew McBride travelled to Palmerston North to support the teams and the win was even more special as it has been 15 years since Westlake had their last victory at Nationals.
Westlake Boys Premier 2 team, who were seeded eighth coming into the tournament, also exceeded expectations finishing seventh in New Zealand and confirming the strength of Westlake squash. The team consisting of Akil Afghan, Jien Lim, Jonathan Ko, Soo-Myoung Jang, Tom Taylor and Matt Peagram (as well as team manager Lynda Taylor) upset seventh seeds Hamilton Boys High School in the playoffs for 7th-8th place.
At the closing award ceremonies, Westlake’s team captain Rafa Yam was selected as captain of the New Zealand Secondary Schools team to compete in Sydney from 22-29 August. New Zealand will play teams from New South Wales and Queensland and a combined Australian team for a Test match.
The team would like to express their acknowledgement and appreciation to Westlake Teacher in charge of Squash Mr. Mike Calver and coach Manu Yam for all their hard work with the team.
Premier Team 1:
1st Round: Won vs Burnside High School, 5-0
2nd Round: Won vs Ruapehu College, 5-0
Quarterfinals: Won vs Westlake Prems 2, 5-0
Semifinals: Won vs Palmerston North Boys High School, 5-0
Finals: Won vs Tauranga Boys College, 3-2
Premier Team 2:
1st Round: Won vs Marlborough Boys B, 5-0
2nd Round: Won vs Whangarei Boys Hight School, 3-2
3rd Round: Lost vs Westlake Boys High School Prems 1, 0-5
4th Round: Lost vs St. Paul College, 2-3
7-8 Playoffs: Won vs. Hamilton Boys High School, 4-1