The 2017 Australian University Games was held at the Gold Coast Squash Centre from Monday 25 September to Friday 29 September with 7 universities in the men’s league competing from across Australia.
The Curtin University team (the only representing university from WA) comprised of Andrew Metcalfe, Brian Hornsby, Jarrad Sims, Joshua Fiorentino and Keith Cheng. Curtin came into the tournament aiming to match or better our bronze medal performance from last year. The competition had more depth than last year, providing a harder challenge to achieve a medal.
Day One – Round 1 & 2
The first round against Bond University saw nerves arise. Bond University won 20/8.
Our second round of the day proved to be much more successful. We were up against Adelaide University. Curtin University won 21/7, but we now had two injured players.
Day Two – Round 3 & 4
The third match was against last year’s silver medallists, La Trobe University and we replicated Monday morning’s results. La Trobe University won 21/7.
Our fourth match was against the eventual winners, Monash University. With Darren Chan as their number one, the depth throughout all four players was incredible. Monash University won 17/11.
Day Three – Round 5
With a rest in the morning, the team finally got to catch up on some much-needed rest. Our first and only match of the day was against Melbourne University. Curtin University won 18/10.
Day Four – Round 6 & Finals Round 1
Our last round before finals, sitting in fifth, we had to make the top four to qualify for a potential medal finish, and we did. Up against the University of New South Wales and Curtin won 28/0.
Managing to slip into fourth place, we were placed to verse Monash University again, however this time we could not replicate our prior matches results. Monash came out absolutely firing, Monash University won 28/0.
Day Five – Finals Round 2 (Bronze Medal Playoff)
This round would prove to be the toughest of all. We were up against Bond University, who had beaten us on Monday 20/8. We all knew this would be a test especially with our injured players. The team rallied together with Curtin University winning 17/11.
Overall the whole team had a tremendous amount of fun and we met some amazing people. I would like to thank the Curtin squash team for an amazing week and performance, and thank you for carrying me to a bronze medal finish.
A special mention to Keith Cheng who also won the green and gold medal – a medal awarded to the top 6 players of the tournament.
See the full report in the next edition of the SWAN newsletter.
Joshua Fiorentino
Curtin