SQUASH: Trio struggle to impress in Nottingham

Sadly for the trio of Sophia John and sisters Lily and Natalie Main it wasn’t to be this time as they failed to match expectations.

The first to fall was John in the U15 as after picking up a minor injury in a recent match, it clearly hampered during a 3-0 loss to Florence Kersley, an opponent she would normally expect to beat.

John withdrew from the event and now faces a battle to be fit for the British Open in January.

Also in the U15 category was the eldest Main sister, Lily, who drew Emma Bartley in the first round, one of the top seeds.

Whilst she battled hard and won some rallies, Main was ultimately outclassed by the player who would eventually go on to make the final.

She then faced Jemma Young in the second round, losing 3-1 and next came up against Amy Faergemann, winning 3-2.

Taking on hard-hitting Bhuvana Kumar in the next round, Main used her height well to negate Kumar’s power but ultimately went down 3-0.

In her final match Main faced Jessica Shaw, winning 3-1, giving her a finishing position of 27th.

There were high hopes in the U13 category for Natalie Main, who was seeded fourth overall.

A bye in the first round meant she then took on Renitha Srindran, whom she comfortably beat in the recent Regional Championships.

However, Main seemed to lack focus and ultimately was lucky to prevail 3-2.

In the quarter-final she played Charlie McCrone, fighting back well from 2-0 down, but ultimately losing 3-2.

Clearly disheartened by the defeat she suffered arguably her worst defeat in tournament squash to Isobel Sargent, going down 3-2.

In her last match she beat Robyn McAlpine to finish seventh overall.

Next up for the Main girls is a trip to Wroclaw for the Polish Open.