Triple victory for Thame squash players in County Championships

TALENTED squash players from Raquets in Thame came away from the recent Oxfordshire Squash County Championships, with three victories, including that of Ben Hedger, who is now the under 19s, County Champion, ranking him 25th in the England Squash rankings in his age group.

Ben Hedger and the county squad with his trophy

Over the weekend of September 25-26, at Abingdon Squash club, talented juniors from across the whole of Oxfordshire competed for their spots in the county squad for their age group. Ben Hedger, aged 18, has been playing squash at a highly competitive standard since the age of just eight years old, when he first started playing in England Squash tournaments across the country, the first being the Oxfordshire County Championships. In the past couple of years, he has started to really improve and excel in his game, training on a daily basis at Thame Racquets Fitness Centre. He is now currently training full-time with the aim of turning his passion for the game into a career as a professional.

Ben’s early potential continued to develope and when he was 10 years-old he started to overcome the other players in Oxfordshire in his age group, and has won the County Championships every year ever since. In 2016, Ben hoped to play his best squash for his last ever Junior County Championships, before moving on to the far stronger county seniors. Competing for his place in the under 19s boys county squad, where there were potential threats to take his title, Ben proved to have the edge over his fellow competitors, pulled through and took the title of Oxfordshire County Champion under 19s, without dropping a single game for the final time.

Simon Martin, Ben’s primary coach said: “I am extremely proud of Ben’s achievements and love to see his hard work and dedication to the game paying off. He shows real determination on and off the court and is always working hard to improve his game wherever he can.”

Alongside Ben, Emily Coulcher Porter and Oliver Coulcher-Porter also competed in the Oxfordshire County Championships, Oliver currently with an England Squash Ranking of seven in the under 11s, and Emily with an England Squash Ranking of 16 in the girls under 11s at only 8 years of age. Emily and Oliver proved to possess too much skill and talent for their opponents to handle, ultimately leading to them taking the Oxfordshire County Championships title for their age groups. Furthermore, both Emily and Oliver did so without dropping a single game to their opponents.

Not only did Racquets achieve three victories at the Oxfordshire County Championships, but Luke Hayes achieved an astonishing second place in the boys under 11s after only taking up squash seriously in the past year. Ollie Cartwright also gained a fantastic achievement in coming third in the boys under 13s, also taking squash seriously at a high standard for just under a year.

Sue Martin-Downhill, head junior coach said: “What an astonishing achievement for these two up and coming players! They have improved at such a rapid rate these past two years and I am very excited to see where squash takes these two in the following years to come.”

Ben is also hoping to inspire people of all ages, all standards, squash players and non squash players to participate in squash on a regular basis. He is now a fully qualified Level 1 squash coach and is taking all junior coaching sessions after school time, and all adult training sessions in the evening.

For information about playing squash from a young age – or starting later in life, contact Sue, Simon or Ben at Racquets Fitness Centre on 01844 261754.