{"id":80922,"date":"2025-08-18T15:58:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=80922"},"modified":"2025-08-18T15:58:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:58:24","slug":"robinson-wins-top-growthpoint-junior-nationals-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=80922","title":{"rendered":"Robinson wins top Growthpoint Junior Nationals clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Thomas
Thomas Boutall plays a drop shot during his 3-0 win over Benji Newman in the men\u2019s u19 section on the second day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals Squash Championships at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Friday. Photo: Gavin Pitcher\/Gallo Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Easterns’<\/span> player Brianna Robinson<\/strong> registered a notable win over Chant\u00e8 Leppan <\/strong><\/span>as the intensity ratcheted up a level on the second day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals Squash Championships<\/strong>, in Cape Town, on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Playing at Makers Landing<\/strong>, at the V&A Waterfront<\/strong>, the country’s top u17 and u19 players were locked in battle as the round-robin format unfolded on Friday and Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were several hard-fought matches on Friday, giving an indication that the top-seeded players will have their work cut out for them to achieve the goal of being crowned national champion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson delivered proof of that in her match in the women\u2019s u19 section against Leppan<\/span>, the tournament’s second seed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson seized control of the match by taking the first two games, but <\/span>Leppan<\/span> showed that nothing could be taken for granted and delivered a supreme effort to level the match by winning the next two games 11-8 and 13-11.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brianna
Brianna Robinson plays a backhand during her 3-2 win over Chant\u00e8 Leppan<\/span> in the women’s u19 section of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals Squash Championships at the V&A Waterfront, in Cape Town, on Friday. Photo: Grant Pitcher\/Gallo Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so, it came down to the fifth game decider, in which Robinson quickly asserted herself to shoot out to a 6-1 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the sort of deficit which would not be easy to make up between two evenly matched players and although Leppan<\/span> pulled it back to 10-6, the <\/span>Easterns<\/span> player finally sealed the deal on her first match point.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another blockbuster of a match developed in the girls’ u17 division, where top seed Makayla Naidoo<\/strong>, of KwaZulu-Natal, had to withstand a massive challenge from Border’s Kate van <\/strong><\/span>Biljon<\/span><\/strong>, last year’s Growthpoint u15 champion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The KZN player led 2-1 before Van <\/span>Biljon<\/span> extended the match to a fifth game decider by winning a marathon fourth game 16-14.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was tight all the way down the final stretch, but Naidoo did just enough to edge home 11-8.<\/span><\/p>\n

In another close encounter, women’s u19 top seed Den\u00e9 Van Zyl<\/strong> found herself in a real scrap with KZN’s <\/span>Cevana<\/span><\/strong> Naidoo<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The defending Growthpoint u19 champion, Van Zyl looked to be on cruise control at 2-0 up, but Naidoo demonstrated real grit to take charge of the third game and race out to an 8-1 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Van Zyl put in a top effort to close the gap, Naidoo held on to win it 11-9 and then followed a tight fourth game which went to the 10-10 tiebreaker, with the top seed regaining control to take it 12-10 and the match 3-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the men’s U19 section, top seed Judah Phillips<\/strong>, of Northerns, <\/span>and second seed, Thomas <\/strong><\/span>Boutall<\/strong>, of Western Province, <\/span>showed they meant business by securing 3-0 wins against tough opponents, with Phillips accounting for Boland’s Louis le Riche<\/strong>, and Boutall downing Benji Newman<\/strong>, of Eastern Province.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

POOL RESULTS
\n<\/strong>
\nGirls’ U17<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A:<\/strong> Makayla Naidoo (KZN) <\/span>bt<\/span> Kate van <\/span>Biljon<\/span> (Border) 3-2 (9-11 11-5 11-7 14-16 11-8).<\/span><\/p>\n

Pool B: <\/span><\/strong>Hanrie<\/span> Duits<\/span> (Eden) <\/span>bt<\/span> Amelia Lubbe (<\/span>Northerns<\/span>) 3-0 (11-2 11-5 11-6), Vivienne van der <\/span>Schyff<\/span> (Free State) <\/span>bt<\/span> Tara Neville-<\/span>Smyly<\/span> (WP) 3-0 (11-9 11-2 11-9).<\/span><\/p>\n

Boys’ U17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A:<\/strong> Christian Swanepoel (Eden) <\/span>bt<\/span> Dylan <\/span>Keswell<\/span> (WP) 3-1 (11-6 11-5 4-11 11-8).<\/span><\/p>\n

Pool B:<\/strong> Milan Raffa (<\/span>Northerns<\/span>) <\/span>bt<\/span> Logan <\/span>Kidson<\/span> (<\/span>Northerns<\/span>) 3-0 (11-6 11-8 11-8), Luke Goldschmidt (EP) <\/span>bt<\/span> Aiden McNeill (KZN) 3-0 (12-10 11-8 11-1).<\/span><\/p>\n

Women’s U19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A:<\/strong> Den\u00e9 Van Zyl (Boland) <\/span>bt<\/span> Cevana<\/span> Naidoo (KZN) 3-1 (11-4 11-5 9-11 12-10), Brianna Robinson (<\/span>Easterns<\/span>) <\/span>bt<\/span> Chante <\/span>Leppan<\/span> (<\/span>Northerns<\/span>) 3-2 (11-6 11-6 8-11 11-13 11-6).<\/span><\/p>\n

Pool B:<\/strong> Marlene van <\/span>Wyk<\/span> (Boland) <\/span>bt<\/span> Benedette<\/span> van <\/span>Tonder<\/span> (Free State) 3-2 (9-11 11-9 2-11 11-8 11-7), Lucy Malherbe (WP) v Katelyn <\/span>Walland<\/span> (EP) 3-1 (11-6 11-8 8-11 11-9).<\/span><\/p>\n

Men’s u19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A:<\/strong> Judah Phillips (<\/span>Northerns<\/span>) <\/span>bt<\/span> Louis le Riche (Boland) 3-0 (11-5 11-5 11-3), Thomas <\/span>Boutall<\/span> (WP) <\/span>bt<\/span> Benji Newman (EP) 3-0 (11-5 11-7 12-10).<\/span><\/p>\n

Pool B: <\/span><\/strong>Ruvay<\/span> Ramdhin<\/span> (KZN) <\/span>bt<\/span> Heinu<\/span> van Jaarsveld (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-7 11-6 11-4), Nicholas <\/span>Basson<\/span> (WP) <\/span>bt<\/span> Anrieg<\/span> Small (Boland) 3-1 (11-7 8-11 11-7 13-11).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Easterns’ player Brianna Robinson registered a notable win over Chant\u00e8 Leppan as the intensity ratcheted up a level on the second day of the Growthpoint SA Junior Nationals Squash Championships, in Cape Town, on Friday. Playing at Makers Landing, at the V&A Waterfront, the country’s top u17 and u19 players were locked in battle as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":80924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/80924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}