Day one of the 2024 ProAir British Junior Squash Championships saw 392 players descend on Sheffield bidding to add their names to the event’s illustrious roll of honour in its 50th year.
This year’s Championships, co-hosted by Hallamshire, Abbeydale and Fullwood, conclude on Sunday when 12 names will be added to the prestigious list of former winners which includes all-time greats such as Laura Massaro, Peter Nicol, James Willstrop and Cassie Jackman.
Boys’ U19 top seed Bailey Malik (Sussex) safely got past Daniel Mooney-Seyfang (Bucks) and [9/16] Matthew Bartley (Suffolk) to book his place in Friday’s quarter-finals. He was joined in the last eight by his brother Heston, the 5/8 seed, as well as [3/4] Ioan Sharpe, who toppled fellow Welshman Oliver Jones, and [3/4] Dylan Roberts (Kent), who ground out a tough 11-8 14-12 9-11 11-4 victory against Chester Dockray (Yorks).
Second seed Alex Broadbridge (Hants), ranked No.1 in England and Europe, also negotiated the opening two rounds with straight-games wins over Lucas Hall (Yorks) and [9/16] Jude Gibbins (Kent). Broadbridge, winner of the recent Dutch and Welsh Junior Open titles on the European circuit, said: “My first match was on the glass court which was a nice experiment to get a feel for it for later on in the tournament. In my second match against Jude I stuck to my game plan and it went smoothly. My parents were happy, which is always important!
“I’m pretty confident heading into the event. There’s no point going into a tournament expecting to lose, otherwise it will happen! At European tournaments you’re less familiar with your opponents, but here we all know each other pretty well and we’re good friends. That can make matches quite tense, but I’m happy with how day one went.”
In the girls’ U19, six of the top eight seeds had the luxury of first-round byes, including top-seeded 15-year-old Mariam Eissa, who finished U19 runner-up to Amelie Haworth last year. Eissa will face Jasmine Thirst in the last 16 on Friday after the Norfolk player won an East Anglian derby with Suffolk’s Zoe Tanner in straight games. Second seed Ellie Breach of Wales will play Charlie McCrone (Lancs) on Friday – and Ellie could potentially face her sister Millie in the quarter-finals if both win tomorrow afternoon.
All top eight seeds made it into Friday’s last 16 in the boys’ U17 draw. Top seed Ronnie Hickling (Surrey) is chasing a third title in this event and overcame Sam Tufton (Northumbria) 11-6 11-4 12-10, while [2] Ismail Khalil (Warks) breezed past Welshman Aled Lloyd-Davies 11-2 11-1 11-3. The girls’ U17 main draw begins on Friday after the completion of today’s five qualifiers.
Top seed Ali Khalil (Warks) and [2] Matthew Hong Ki Leung (Glos) both received first-round byes in a bumper boys’ U15 draw, then negotiated their opening tests in rapid fashion to take their places in the last 16 on Friday. Khalil dropped just seven points against Thomas Naylor (Glos) while Ki Leung was similarly efficient against Fred Carlisle (Cheshire).
Top seed Ameerah Ismail’s quest for a second British Junior trophy began serenely as the Warwickshire youngster saw off [17/32] Bhumika Senthil Kumar (Glos) 11-1 11-1 11-4 in the girls’ U15. Second seed Fearne Copley (Yorks), the former English U11 champion, was victorious against Grace Brown (Leics) 11-5 11-2 11-2.
In the boys’ U13, the two top seeds, twins Oscar and Finley Brown (Leics), both advanced to the last 16. [1] Oscar beat [17/32] James Penn (Middx) 11-5 11-6 11-2 having received a first-round bye, while [2] Finley also had a bye then toppled Toby White Mitchell (Yorks) 11-4 11-1 11-5. Elsewhere, [5/8] Logan Willstrop, whose father James is a five-time former British Junior Championship title winner, made it safely through alongside [9/16] Noah Selby (Essex), son of three-time Commonwealth Games medal winner Daryl.
In the girls’ U13, the top four seeds received byes into the last 16 where [1] Nadiya Ismail (Warks) will meet [9/16] Charlotte Hall (Warks) and [2] Sienna Hampshaw (Yorks) will face [9/16] Anika Raghavan (Middx) on Friday.
Both U11 draws start on Friday while the boys’ and girls’ U9 competitions, which are organised into groups leading to knockout rounds, begin on Saturday.
