RISING squash stars from Joseph Rowntree School did York proud in the national championships.

They were beaten in the final by holders Wycliffe College in the Under-15 Boys' Championship at Leicester.

It was a great effort by Jo Ro, who do not even have their own school court and were up against some of the top squash-playing private schools in the country.

The five-strong team, who won the Yorkshire and regional rounds, made a great start to their title tilt by beating Kenilworth School 4-1.

McKenzie Nicol, Tom Boyle, Jack Tunsworth and Ben Walker all won their games 3-0 while Tom Pepper lost to Bedfordshire County No 1 youth player Guy Pearson.

That put them through to the national final in the afternoon where they came up against the formidable Gloucestershire outfit, Wycliffe College, who offer scholarships to promising squash players and had three nationally-ranked players in their side.

The four-times winners - and holders - had demonstrated their power by whitewashing Bishop Luffa School, Chichester, in their semi-final.

They also proved too strong for Jo Ro, winning 5-0 in the final. Bishop Luffa beat Kenilworth 4-1 in the third-place play-off.

The Jo Ro squad, which also includes Dan Middlemarch, are coached by Ian Cordell, father of teenage Yorkshire county player Neil, at Wigginton Squash Club.

Updated: 11:05 Wednesday, March 29, 2006