Top seed Lizelle Muller achieved a long-cherished dream when she has crowned the Growthpoint South African National squash champion for the first time after defeating Milnay Louw at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on October 23.
The 37-year-old Gqeberha-based player had been the runner-up for the last two years and was overcome with emotion when she ended a 33-minute battle with a 3-1 victory.
To make it a memorable day for the van Niekerks, younger brother Dewald, 13 years her junior, annexed the men’s title in his first appearance in the final after a titanic one-hour duel with former mentor Christo Potgieter 3-1.
In the u-17 SA national finals played earlier in the afternoon, Luhann Groenewald of Northerns and Savannah Ingledew of Midlands were crowned the boys’ and girls’ champions respectively.
The tournament finale provided a celebration of squash, highlighting the young talent coming through, as well as showcasing the role played by some of South Africa’s senior players in the sport.
Kudos must go to Muller who overcame a slightly worrying start against Louw by losing the first game.
However, she seemed to sense this was her moment and that it was up to her to seize the opportunity, which she did emphatically.
Moving superbly around the court, she imposed her pattern on the match to prove just too much for the three-time former champion.
Afterwards, Muller was at a loss for words after her previous disappointments.
“I just don’t know what to say except I am so happy and excited,” said Muller.
“I knew I had to go out there and play my game because Milnay can be very dangerous if you let her dominate the middle of the court. I felt I was able to do that today.”
Later, van Niekerk said it was a special moment to be able to share his triumph with his sister.
He was made to work all the way by the energetic defending champion and even when he led 8-1 in the fourth, Potgieter refused to go away.
The second seed pulled back to 8-8 before the game went to 10-10, and finally, van Niekerk took the title with his fourth match point.
