British Junior Open 2023: unofficial world junior championship
The most prestigious open squash championship among juniors, which is also called the "unofficial" world championship in squash circles, has started in Birmingham. After a two-year break, 673 players came to the British championship, playing in 10 age categories.
The competition started on January 4 at 9:00 a.m. with 23 matches on the territory of four locations, a total of 620 matches are planned today, the last of which will take place at 9:20 p.m.
Representatives of Egypt, Malaysia and the USA are competing among the favorites of the tournament. The British Junior Open 2023 was not without the current junior world champions Amina Orfi from Egypt (GU19) and Rowan Dumming from the Netherlands (BU19).
The representatives of Ukraine at the British Junior Open 2023 included our squash players - Myroslava Sperchun (category under 15 years) and Milena Velichko (category under 19 years). Both athletes played today's games and already have intermediate results.
Next, we will consider the girls' matches one by one and analyze the favorites in their age categories.
Milena Velichko. Category GU19 (61 players)
Let's start with the fact that this tournament was a double debut for 16-year-old Milena. She is participating in the British Championship for the first time and also playing in the girls' under-19 category for the first time.
In the first round, the Belgian Chloe Crabbé, seeded 17/32, won with a score of 3:0. The member of the women's national team of Ukraine lost to her 17-year-old opponent in the first two sets, and then in the decisive match with a two-point advantage.
1 Round. The results
Milena Velichko - Crabbe Chloe Belgium: 11-7, 11-4, 16-14 (Edgbaston Priory 10)
As for the leaders and direct contenders for places on the GU19 podium. Spectators and fans are still looking forward to the Egyptian final featuring three-time BJO champion Amina Orfi and world number 47 Fairuza Aboeloheira, a former BJO champion in the girls' under-15 category.
Milena Velichko will fight for the 33rd-48th place on Friday, her opponent has not yet been determined.
Myroslava Sperchun. Category GU15 (58 players)
Myroslava Sperchun opened her championship games with a five-set, hard-fought match against Ava Fox. And although in the first matches Myroslava managed to get a leadership position and beat her opponent in the second long game with the result 12-10, but this game cost a significant loss of strength. The Englishwoman took advantage of the opportunity and changed the course of the game in her favor, beating Sperchun in the next three games.
1 Round. The results
Myroslava Sperchun - Ava Fox England: 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 9-11, 4-11
2 Round. 01/05/2023 13:10. Match for 33-64 places
Myroslava Sperchun - Maja Leese England (Solihull Arden Club 6)
Among the favorites in the under-15 category is 14-year-old Anahat Singh, who represented India at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Singh is expected to face second seed Whitney Wilson in the final, which could be a repeat of the 2019 final in which Singh defeated in Malaysia in the category under 11 years.
The British Junior Open 2023 is broadcast live on the Glass Court, Courts 1 and 2 of Edgbaston Priory Club: https://britishjunioropen.com/watch/. You can follow the grids and schedule of the tournament on the official website of the tournament https://britishjunioropen.com/draws/. Photos from the tournament are available at https://britishjunioropen.com/gallery/.
