Juniors set for battle in Sheffield as Egyptians look to endorse the seedings
By LAURA GILLETT – Article first appeared at England Squash & Racketball
The Tecnifibre British Junior Open, the most prestigious junior squash event in the world returns to Sheffield for the 19th consecutive year.
Tecnifibre, Official Partner of England Squash and Racketball are title sponsors for the event which will see 424 players from 36 nations compete between the 2nd and 6th of January.
Hallamshire Tennis & Squash Club and Abbeydale Park Rackets & Fitness Club remain as host venues and are joined once again by Fulwood Sports Club, enabling all 8 categories to be played out in full monrad.
Egypt will return to Sheffield with some exceptionally strong players, taking seven out of the eight top seed positions. 2013’s Junior World Champion Karim El Hammamy takes his place at the top of the Boys Under 19 draw, with fellow countryman and two time British Junior Open Champion, Shehab Essam as the number two seed.
Hoping to spoil it for the Egyptians is 3/4 seed and last years Boys Under 17 champion Diego Elias of Peru and England’s own Richie Fallows of Essex who occupies the other 3/4 seeded position.
This years Girls Under 19 competition looks to be an all Egyptian affair, as they occupy all of the top four seeded positions. Top seed Mariam Metwaly who came runner up at the World Juniors this year is favourite for the title, however last years Under 17 British Junior Open champion Yathreb Adel, will be looking to make it three in a row. Last years runner up Nouran Gohar, and Salma Hany occupy the 3/4 positions.
The Boys Under 17 competition will be a battle between Egypt and Malaysia. Top seed Youseff Soliman of Egypt, who finished runner up in 2012 in the Under 15 category, will be closely chased by the number two seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia who won last years Boys Under 15 competition.
In the Girls Under 17 competition, top seed Habiba Mohamed will be looking to make this her fourth title in a row, but will face tough competition from her fellow Egyptians who take the rest of the top seed positions.
The Boys Under 15 category looks to be fiercely contested with Egypt’s Youseff Ibrahim topping the seeds and team mate Ziad Sakr coming in at number two. Fellow compatriots Marwan Tarek and Moustafa Montaser take the 3/4 spots.
Malaysia’s Siv Subramaniam was last years Girls Under 15 runner up, but takes the top spot this year, and is hoping to spoil the day for Egypt as they take the next three seeded positions with Rowan Reda at two, and Amina Yousry and Hania El Hammamy at 3/4. England’s hopes lie with Elise Lazarus from Essex who holds a 5/8 position.
Egypt look set to take both the Girls and Boys Under 13 titles with Mohammed El Shamy at one and Asser Hisham at two in the boys competition, and Jana Shiha topping the girls draw and Nouran Youseff seeded second
Entry is free of charge with play starting every day at 9am, with all finals scheduled to start from 9.30am on Monday 6th.
Source: England Squash & Racketball; Picture by Steve Cubbins (SquashSite)