SQUASH
By SAM DEBENHAM
LOCAL product Cameron Deehan will get a rare opportunity to share the court with former world champion David Palmer when the pair contest the doubles title at the NSW Championships starting on August 15.
Four-time British Open champ, Palmer, will be the drawcard for the event to be held at Thornleigh, which is also Deehan's home club at the moment.
Deehan will also contest the singles event and may be forced to play his doubles partner if each of them progress far enough through the singles draw.
The 17-year-old will take some winning form into the event, having taken out the NSW under 17 titles last week as well as a tournament in Coffs Harbour.
Though he has rubbed shoulders with the Lithgow-born Palmer in the past, it will be the first chance he has had to share the court with the world number five at this level and he is counting the days until they get on court.
"I have had a bit of contact with Dave in the past ? my coach [Carin Clonda] is his manager, and she asked if I'd like the chance to play with him in the doubles so of course I said yes," Deehan said.
"It will be a fantastic learning opportunity, and it is going to be interesting to see what kind of things he says between games."
Given the frenetic nature of singles squash, doubles squash may evoke thoughts of sport at its most chaotic.
Deehan, though, says it can also be thoroughly entertaining.
"It can create a bit of chaos but generally you just play on your side of the court and stick to that side," he said.
"There are a lot more 'lets' though which is a safety thing and you also see longer points and it makes for some quality squash."
Stepping up into the men’s draw after winning the under 17s championship is somewhat of an unknown for the Bathurst player but with at least three guaranteed matches, there is no doubt that playing some of the best in the world will give him some good exposure.
“The level is a lot higher so I’m aiming just to gain some experience and hopefully win some matches. I think it will be a 32-man draw and as one of the lower seeds I will probably draw a high one early on,” he said.
“I hope it isn’t David.
“Usually you would expect to come up against a fair few top 100 players but if you lose you go into the ‘plate’ draw and get your three matches.”
After earning himself a men’s world ranking for the first time back in May, Deehan will be looking to improve upon his world mark of 376.
He said that the main goal over the coming 12 months is to boost that ranking into the top 200 by playing more tournaments and hopefully achieving some high finishes.
At the moment his national under 17s ranking sits at four, something else he would like to improve on.
For the time being though, he is firmly focused on impressing one of the world’s best, an opportunity which most players his age never get.