Unbeaten season for squash team

Haileybury’s Squash team had an excellent season this year and were unbeaten in 12 matches during the Christmas and Easter terms, with 11 wins and 1 draw.

Says Master-in-charge of squash, Richard Wilson: "Throughout the season, we had a very stable line-up and were fortunate enough to have been at full strength most of the time. The pupils worked really hard during training and responded well to their individual and group coaching sessions.

"There was a very good team spirit and a supportive atmosphere among the players and the overall team performance got better and better with each match. In the second half of term, we never really looked like losing as a team and, to finish the season with 10-0 and 11-0 whitewashes against big schools like Bedford and Berkhamsted, was superb. The improvement the team had made during year was clear to see."

The team was a good blend of experience and a high standard of athletic ability. Nick Brooks (Tr), Laurent Duplix (K), Jack Wareing (B), Amrit Ratnani (K) and Alex Walkey (B) completed their third or fourth year of full-time team squash. Sam Billings (BFr), David Wilson (BFr) and Sam Wilson (BFr) played in almost all the school matches this year and their playing record at Haileybury is particularly impressive in that they have never lost a school match.

The line-up was completed by Florian Lindermann (L) and Francesco Lupis (K) who made good progress and played well in their first year of team squash and proved almost impossible to beat at Numbers 9 & 10, with only one loss between them all season.

Ben Dicks (BFr) and John Wong (K) have also filled in when required.

"The team had excellent strength in depth", continues Richard. "The top eight were quite evenly matched and, as a result, we were able to overwhelm other schools in the middle and lower order, in particular. The boys showed a high level of fitness, technical skill, commitment and sportsmanship at all times and we can all be very proud of their achievements."