By Cira Olivier

The packed crowd was on the edge of their seats, the silence between squeaking sneakers and the tiny ball only sliced through by the periodic “oohs”, “good shots”, and claps.

Besides the differing shoes, one pair purple and the other white, it’s tough to tell the composed players apart.

That’s because the St Cuthbert's College squash competitors Julia and Angelina Chen, 12, are twins, and are both at their second Zespri AIMS Games.

Their one-hour age gap is as close as the games, which ultimately saw Julia crowned the winner, 3-1, with the last game, packed with lengthy rallies, ending with a score of 15-13.

It was an important game to decide which sister would play in the finals.

“It was exhausting,” Angelina says.

“She improved a lot, I guess,” she says, comparing their most recent battles, all of which take a long time.

The duo started playing two and a half years ago after their friend introduced squash to them, and they became competitive after six months.

They often play against each other, both smiling while saying together that it’s “very annoying”.

“We train with the same coach, we practice together, so we know each other,” Angelina says.

“She’s really fast, I can’t really get the ball away from her, and she also knows where my ball is going.”

“And she can guess where my ball is going to go … she plays smart,” Julia adds.

Their competitive edge only emerges on the court, but each game always ends in a hug, with the sibling rivalry built on banter and laughter.

Their post-match ritual is that the winner has to buy a drink or snack for the other.

“If I lose, after the game, I’ll be angry until she does something, like buys me a drink,” Angelina giggles, knowing she’s got a tropical juice coming from her sister.

In saying that, they’ve got dreams of playing singles and as a lethal doubles New Zealand squash team.

“Her forehand’s better,” Angelina says, and Julia adds “her backhand is better”.

They look at each other, proud of their improvement at the AIMS Games, with Julia placing second overall and Angelina placing third, up from their sixth and seventh places last year.

Article added: Friday 05 September 2025