A Junior on the Rise
by Nick at Will

January 1, 2014 - Cassandra Ong, 12 year old junior squash player from Fremont, California entered a U.S. Squash junior Gold tournament in San Diego this-past weekend...in the girls under 17 division, where she was unseeded. Cassandra's results were quite impressive...to say the least!

In her first round, Cassandra met Marissa Chang of San Diego, the results of which were 11/1, 11/1, 11/0...for Cassandra!

The second round found Cassandra meeting the #1 seed in the event, Diana Masch of Warren, NJ., the nation's #19 player in the GU17's. What a match that was! Casandra lost the first two games 6/11, 8/11. However, she came back to win the third 11/5. The fourth game was a nail-biter! With the score tied, Cassandra saved six match balls, coming back to win the game 18/16! The fifth and deciding game was even until Cassandra pulled away, winning the game and match 11/8!

Cassandra's third match quarter-final was against Purvi Goel of Fremont, CA, the nation's #52 player in the GU17's. Cassandra swept that one three straight, 11/4, 11/5, 11/3!

Cassandra's fourth semi-final match was against Isabel Young of Bethesda, MD, #41 in the GU17's. Cassandra lost the first game 7/11, but came back to win the next three 11/5, 11/2, 11/8.

The finals found Cassandra meeting Lucy Martin of Brooklyn, NY., the nation's #23 player in the GU17's. This was a good match and pretty even, going four games...11/8, (11/13) 11/9, 11/6...with the GU17 division championship going to this young, petite 12 year-old...Cassandra Ong!

Doing a little research on this very fine young squash-player, we found that two years ago, Cassandra was the #1 ranked girl in the under 11's in the United States. She's currently the #2 ranked under 13 year-old in the nation! Watch out for this very talented young lady, as we predict she'll be working her way up through the age-group rankings, winning many future junior national, collegiate and who knows, professional squash championships.