By Mark Allen, US National Junior Women’s Coach
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Lily Lorentzen, Kristen Lange, Emery Maine and Amanda Siebert are the United States team that will compete in the World Team Championships in 2005. The World Championships are scheduled for July 21-31 in Herentals, Belgium, and coaches Mark Allen and Natalie Grainger will accompany the team in their journey to the championships. In addition, Toby Eyre, Brittany Hebden, Kaitlin Sennatt and Logan Greer are expected to travel to Belgium to compete alongside the four in the World Individual Championships. This team was selected based on performances in three selection events (Hunter Lott Junior Open, November 2004; The Princeton Junior Open, January, 2005; and the US Junior Closed Championships, March 2005) as well as trial playoff matches held in late March 2005.
The event begins with the Individual Championships. Some past winners of this prestigious event, such as Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Cassie Jackman, have gone on to become ranked world champions at the senior level. The 2003 World Individual Champion, Omneya El Kawy, is currently ranked No. 9 on the WISPA tour, and the 2001 World Champion, Nicol David, is currently ranked No. 4. The highest place finish from a US junior in the Worlds thus far was by Michelle Quibell in Malaysia in 2001. Back then, the current Yale #1 reached the quarterfinal stages. With a favorable draw, an in-form Lorentzen is capable of equaling Quibell’s 2001 placing. Other names to watch at this year’s event, according to Lorentzen, include Annie Au (Hong Kong), Sara Badr (Egypt), Joshna Chinappa (India), Charlie de Rycke (Belgium), Raneem El Weilly (Egypt), and Tenille Swartz (South Africa).
The Team Championships start the day after the final of the Individuals. Favorites for the team event will be defending champion Egypt, and while a strong challenge can be expected from the traditional squash-playing nations of England and Australia, nations like Hong Kong, Belgium and France will also be challenging for the Team title. My opinion, as US coach, is this year’s US team is the strongest team ever assembled; however, the depth of competition is greater then ever before. The highest finish from a US team to date was the 4th-place finish from the 2001 team of Quibell, Amy Gross, Ali Pearson and Kate Rapisarda. The 2003 US Team finished 8th. My prediction is that our team will finish in a position inside the top six.
Lily Lorentzen
Lily Lorentzen will be the US # 1 this year, just as she was in 2003. Lorentzen now has that World Junior Championships under her belt, as well as a Pan American Federation Cup as a member of the US National Women’s Team. She is a vastly more experienced player than the last time around. And, thanks to a year of playing squash full time under the guidance of Rodney Martin, she is stronger and technically far better, too.
Kristen Lange
Behind Lily in the number two position will be Seattle’s Kristen Lange. Lange has had a great 2004-2005 season, winning both the U17 division of the US Open, and the U19 division of the Princeton Junior Open. She is a powerhouse on the court, and when playing to the best of her ability she is capable of blowing her opponents off the court in a whirlwind of attacking squash. I predict that Lange will be the dark horse of the World Championships and her form in the No. 2 position will be crucial to the success of the US team.
Amanda Siebert
In the third position on the US team will be Amanda Siebert of Greenwich. Siebert was not in the initial squad of 10 girls that was put together in October 2003, but her results in the early part of the 2004-2005 season justified her invitation onto the squad. Since then her squash has continued to improve, and she fully deserves her position on the team. Siebert has always been a hard worker and a team player, and both Natalie and I are thrilled to have her in the lineup.
Emery Maine
The fourth and final member of our team is Emery Maine of Philadelphia. Maine is the youngest member of the team and will turn 17 years old on the day of the quarterfinal of the Team Championships. She will still be age eligible for the individual championships in 2007. Maine had a great finish to the 2004-2005 season by beating Lange to make it to the final of the US National Championships in Baltimore. She is a great athlete with a lion’s heart; a very dependable player for the alternate position.
Between now and our departure date of July 18 the girls will be working on a daily basis with their own personal coaches, and in addition they will join myself and assistant coach Grainger during training weekends scheduled in Greenwich and Philadelphia, as well as a week’s training camp in San Francisco. To keep up to date with our progress during the tournament and for more information on the squad then please go to our website, www.usjuniorsquash.com.
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