Yale’s Lucy Flies The Flag For England In Bangor

Qualifier Lucy Beecroft caused a first round stir at the Karakal Bangor Classic squash tournament in North Wales.

Beecroft came through the qualifying rounds and was drawn against fellow England player Lucy Turmel, who was number three seed.

Lucy Beecroft.

In a fiercely contested match Beecroft won 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 15-13 in 52 minutes and earned a quarter-final slot against Welsh player Ali Hemingway.

The 21-year-old Beecroft, from Seaton Sluice in Northumberland, is a student at Yale University in America, having been inspired by her sporting hero Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill to take up professional sport.

Ennis-Hill was the subject of Beecroft’s A Level English course work at Cramlington Learning Village before she earned a scholarship at Yale, one of the world’s most famous universities.

The former World junior championship bronze medalist fell in love with Ivy League university Yale when she visited four years ago and says: “It’s unreal. All the buildings look like cathedrals.

“England’s national squash centre in Manchester has seven courts. At Yale there are 15. The American Football stadium holds 65,000 people and they fill it as well.”

Beecroft’s parents were both good squash players and she began playing at Tynemouth SRC at the age of five.

She was ranked England’s number one at 13, 15, 17 and 19-years-old, although a heel injury has brought a temporary halt to her progress.

The next test for Beecroft is against Hemingway, a 25-year-old who was born in Wales and now plays out of Cambridge.

Seventh seed Hemingway defeated Aberdare’s Ciara Richards 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 in her first round match.

There are now eight players left in the Karakal $5000 PSA World Women’s Tour squash tournament and number one seed Lisa Aitken from Scotland takes on French player Chloe Mesic.

The other quarter-finals are: Grace Gear v Rachael Chadwick, Beecroft v Hemingway and Cristina Gomez (Spain) v Enora Villar (France).

Organisers have thanked Karakal, Haystack Dryers, Bangor University and all private sponsors.

Tournament tickets are £5 for a child and £10 for an adult. To buy tickets or for further information about scholarships contact Brailsford on 01248 382 571 or by email [email protected]

Karakal $5000 PSA World Women’s Tour squash tournament 

First round results: [1] Lisa Aitken (Scotland) beat Laura Tovar (qualifier, Colombia) 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 (21 mins)

[5] Chloe Mesic (France) beat Charlotte Jagger (England) 11-6, 11-1, 11-5

[8] Grace Gear (England) beat Farah Momen (Egypt) 11-7, 11-9, 11-8

[4] Rachael Chadwick (England) beat Jenny Haley (qualifier, Wales) 11-2, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5

Lucy Beecroft (qualifier, England) beat [3] Lucy Turmel (England) 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 15-13 (52 mins)

[7] Ali Hemingway (Wales) beat Ciara Richards (Wales) 11-7, 11-5, 11-4

[6] Cristina Gomez (Spain) beat Lowri Roberts (Wales) 11-9, 12-10, 4-11, 11-1

[2] Enora Villard (France) beat Georgia Adderley (qualifier, Scotland) 11-5, 11-13, 11-2, 11-2 (45 mins)

Qualifying finals:

Georgia Adderley (Scotland) beat Evie Coxon (England) 11-3, 11-2, 11-7 (18 mins)

Laura Tovar (Colombia) beat Bruna Marchesi Petrillo (Brazil) 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 (20m)

Lucy Beecroft (England) beat Lily Taylor (England) 10-12, 11-6, 14-12, 13-11 (39m)

Jenny Haley (Wales) beat Nia Davies (Wales) 11-6, 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7 (46m)

Qualifying round one results:

[3] Lily Taylor (Eng) 3-0 Elin Harlow (Wal) 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 (19m)

[8] Lucy Beecroft (Eng) 3-0 Helen Barnard (Wal) 11-2, 11-2, 11-5 (21m)

[1] Georgia Adderley (Sco) 3-0 Lauren Evans (Wal) 11-5, 11-2, 11-2 (16m)

[7] Evie Coxon (Eng) 3-1 Megan Thomas (Wal) 11-7, 11-13, 11-4, 11-4 (30m)

[6] Laura Tovar (Col) 3-2 Hannah Davies (Wal) 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 13-11 (48m)

[4] Bruna Marchesi (Bra) 3-2 Layna Beattie (Wal) 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 12-10 (35m)

[5] Nia Davies (Wal) 3-0 Emily Powell (Wal) 11-2 11-1 11-2 (14m)

[2] Jenny Haley (Wal) 3-1 Abby Hicks (Wal)11-13, 11-3, 12-10, 11-5 (30m)