Christo Potgieter on a career high
AUCKLAND PARK –The 33-year-old believes injury kept him from winning the national championships before but he has reached the semi-finals six times.
A sports year impacted by Covid-19 created the pressure-free environment that helped Christo Potgieter win three national titles, he believes.
Talking to Caxton Local Media after his Squash National Championships final win against Ruan Olivier, the Auckland Park resident and squash professional at The Country Club Johannesburg (CCJ) Woodmead and Auckland Park venues, described himself as feeling fit, strong and in his element.
He won the final with a thrilling comeback, the scores 8–11, 11–7, 2–11, 11–3, 11–8.
The 33-year-old believes injury kept him from winning the national championships before but he has reached the semi-finals six times. He also won the SA Squash Open in 2017.
In February this year, Potgieter took up racquetball for the first time and walked into the South African Racquetball Championships with a borrowed racquet.
“I borrowed the racquet from Steven [Nicholson], our general manager, and I actually won the tournament. I was surprised,” Potgieter laughed.
What made this victory even sweeter was beating the previous year’s winner, Devon Hendrikse 3–2 in the final.
“The Country Club Johannesburg will host the SA Racquetball Championships again next year and I look forward to competing again. The squash championships was one of those boxes I wanted to tick in my career and I also want to tick it again.”
Potgieter has won 10 national squash doubles titles and took both trophies last year with JP Brits as his men’s partner and Cheyna Wood as his partner in the mixed division. He and Brits went on to take a bronze medal at the World Squash Championships in Australia last year.
“I have no injuries at the moment and I am in the best physical condition in my career,” Potgieter added.
“After the lockdown I did not feel much pressure at the national champs so I decided to just enjoy it, which probably helped. I must thank my physio, Caty Cronin who has helped me become a better mover and player. I still have long and short-term goals in squash and the short-term goals are to keep healthy, injury-free and work on my strengths to make them even stronger.”
He said these include his racquet skills, game plans, mindset and positive attitude.
In the long term, Potgieter hopes to compete at the Squash World Masters when he is 35 years old and take the trophy, as well as represent South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in squash.
Squash has been a sport at the Commonwealth Games since 1998 but South Africa has only entered a team twice.
