Barnett Seeded to Add to Open Crown

Rebecca Barnett top seed at the North Island Age Group Championships this weekend.

New Zealand Junior Squash Open champion Rebecca Barnett is tipped to add to another title to her tally this weekend.

The Wellington teen is top seed in the under 19 girls draw at the North Island Age Group Championships in Hamilton.  Barnett is once again expected to meet Auckland's Ellie Epke in the final, after the pair were involved in an epic battle for the New Zealand crown three months ago, which Barnett won in five games.

However, there will be no twin titles for Barnett's twin brother Jonny, who also won the New Zealand title in April.  Jonny is currently in Doha with the New Zealand boys team, preparing for the World Junior Men's Championships which get underway on Monday.

In the absence of the country's top five players, Oamaru's Chris van der Salm is seeded to win the under 19 boys title and will be hoping to go one better than the South Island Age Group Championships last weekend.  Van der Salm was beaten in the final by Canterbury's Andrew Ellis, who is seeded second again this weekend.  The two players will have to earn their places in the title decider though, with third seed Dylan Tasker and fourth seeded Ben Calvert among a number of players capable of making the final.

Full tournament site...http://www.hstc.co.nz/.