Colette Sultana

Colette Sultana capped an excellent first season of US College Squash by winning three matches and claiming a runner-up finish at the Holleran Cup consolation bracket of the Na-tional Collegiate Squash Championships, held recently.

Up against some of the best players in the United States, Sultana, currently studying at Columbia University in New York, began her run with a 13-11, 11-9, 11-5 win over team-mate Catherine Jenkins.

Sultana went on to play the quarter-finals later that day and defeated Drexel University’s top player Damindhi Udangawa 6-11, 11-8, 14-12, 8-11, 11-9.

In the semi-finals, Sultana had a three-game win over Mount Holyoke’s top seed Randima Ranaweera 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.

The Malta number one player then faced Princeton’s Tara Harrington in the final.

After dropping a very close first game, Sultana fired back to go 2-1 up. However, in the end it was Harrington who took the well-fought match 12-10, 8-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9.

The 2013-14 College Squash season was a notably great start to Sultana’s time with the Columbia University team.

Playing number one for the university as a first year, the Maltese proved to be invaluable to the team’s wins in the Collegiate Team Championships running from October to March.

Recruited into Columbia Squash’s new programme last summer, Sultana led her team into victories over some of the more established sides in the league.

Sultana, meanwhile, also represents her country in individual competitions.

In December she qualified for her first professional tournament, the Prague Open, by beating world ranked 106 player Taylor Flavell 11-2 11-2 11-6. Sultana then fell to top 30 player Nouran Gohar, of Egypt.

Sultana, who has the backing of the Maltese Olympic Committee and Kunsill Malti għall-iSport, will soon be playing another professional event, the Richmond Open.