Gosforth Academy had it's most successful ever visit to the national schools squash finals recently with five of it's six teams making it through to the quarter final stages at Edgbaston Priory in Birmingham. Only the keystage 4 boys failed to make it to the final stages, as they were unlucky to meet eventual runners up St.Aidans ( Harrogate ) in the last knockout stage.
KEYSTAGE 3 BOYS and GIRLS
Both teams eased through their quarter finals with the boys beating Whitgift school ( London ) 4 - 1 and the girls getting a bye through to the semi finals due to the withdrawal of Epsom College. In the semi finals the girls had a comfortable 5 - 0 win over Lincoln Minster but the boys had a close 3 - 2 victory over High Storrs ( Sheffield ), with Charlie Davies, Yuyang Chiu and Raphie Lavender winning at 3, 4 and 5. Both finals were really close. Wins for Charlie Davies and Yu-yang Chiu levelled the match against Elizabeth College ( Guernsey ) and despite a valliant effort Will Brocklehurst lost to a higher ranked opponent in the decider. In the girls final Emma Little and Elizabeth Muldoon Smith won to level the match against Sevenoaks ( Kent ) and then Alice Pearsall had a titanic battle against her opponent, losing out 11 - 10 in the deciding third game! So both teams ended up winning silver medals.
KEYSTAGE 4 GIRLS Comfortable 4 - 1 wins against Benenden Girls school ( Kent ) and Sevenoaks ( Kent ) in the quarter final and semi final took the Academy team through to the final, where they met the event favourites Kenilworth ( Warwickshire ). The team managed to squeeze a 3 - 2 win to take the title. The team of Rebecca Little, Lucy Ulyatt, Meera Jatania, Freya Finnemore, Zara Ali Saleem and Izzy Wright carry on the success of Gosforth Academy , having now won seven girls titles in the last seven years.
KEYSTAGE 5 GIRLS AND BOYS The Keystage 5 boys team had a comfortable 5 - 0 win against King Ecgbert ( Sheffield ) in the QF but then lost out 5 - 0 to Wycliffe ( Gloustershire ) in the semi final and then 5 - 0 to Millfield ( Somerset ) in the 3rd/4th place off. The lads performed well but were up against it because the Millfield and Wycliffe teams are full of scholarship players from around the world. A comfortable 4 - 1 win against Benenden ( Kent ) saw the girls team through to the semi final against Kenilworth where they had a narrow 3 - 2 defeat , with wins for Ava Naisbitt and Isla Cook and a close 2 - 1 defeat for Rebecca Little at number 1. In the 3rd/4th play off the Academy had a comfortable 4 - 1 win over Sevenoaks ( Kent )
Gosforth Academy were the best performing school across all the categories but more than the results, the school can be proud of the performance of all our juniors both on and off the court and that praise extends to Northern because every one of the juniors taking part were attracted to the game through our schools outreach work.
