The two have just returned from their fourth such comp, where they came nineteenth and eighteenth respectively amongst peers from across the country and beyond in the Australian Junior Squash Open, with players from Malaysia and Hong Kong also lining up to play. 

“There’s no qualifying round, but since Tasmania is a long way to travel you wouldn’t come if you were just going to flunk through the tournament,” Ethan said pragmatically.

Ethan played five matches to Jacob’s four during the five days of competition late last month. Demonstrating what many could call exemplary sportsmanship, he granted his opponent a replay for what had been the final winning point in Ethan’s favour of their match, after he “hit the kid on my swing through” with the racket. 

“It was my last match, I won it, but the referee gave me the option to replay the point,” he said, quoting ‘incidental contact’ after his opponent got in his way.

“I felt like it would be a bit mean to not. I was winning 11-10, then that point came up, if I’d been given the stroke I would have won. But then he won the next three points in a row. I was slightly frustrated but I felt like it was a good match so it was good fun. So didn’t feel like I had too much to lose.”

“I’m still speaking to him. We actually traded shirts at the last Australian Junior championship.”

The nail biting finish followed another close five game match, in which Ethan won three games to another opponent’s two. 

Big brother Jacob attributed nerves to his first few games, which let him down against some of the best across the Australia, particularly in the first round. 

“The first rounds were really tough,” he said. 

“I had started to get into the flow by the fourth game, so it was good. I could have kept going!”

Both players are putting their on-court lessons down to experience and an opportunity to gain helpful advice from great coaches to better their game for next time.

“I was happy with it, but I know I can play better. It’s given me the drive to go back, train and work on my footwork and movement around the court. I need to train more. At the moment I’m doing three days a week, but I should be looking at five to six days of squash with cross-training to get into top level. Hopefully By next year I’ll be doing it consistently,” Jacob said, adding that with Year 12 around the corner next year, if it’s going to happen the ‘big push’ has to happen this year. 

For Ethan, he found some places where he could improve his game, including how to better his swinging and footwork on the court.

As for the big push, they have until September to work on it, when the next Australia Junior Championships will be held – this time a little closer to home, in Sydney.