2022 Australian Junior Open Singles events end with blockbuster finals

The 2022 Australian Junior Open singles champions have been crowned on a blockbuster day of squash at Bendigo Squash Centre.

In an afternoon that featured nine finals, the top junior players from around the country took to the court to battle it out to win gold as supporters clambered around courts to catch a glimpse of the action. 

There were some fierce battles on court as players pulled out every stop to clinch a medal, with some matches coming down to the wire across the U11 to U19 girl’s and boy’s divisions. 

In the U11's, Thomas Wang won 3-0 against Cameron Ackroyd, while his younger sister Elizabeth Wang, was over on Court 3 for her final against Malaysia's Mei Rie Lee. It was a great finals between the two girls, with both showing great talent and skill for their young age. While Lee managed to go up 2-0, Wang pulled one back to put her back in contention. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be with Lee hitting some sweet pin point shots to take out the title 3-1.

Following on was the U13's finals, with Tina Ma beating Madison Nargar 3-1 while Henry Kross went down to Joel Roshan Raj 3-0. While the U15's finals followed in similar fashion as Joshua Rahul Raj beat Kasper Cheung 3-0 and Soha Khatri defeated Sarbani Maitra 3-0 too.

As the finals continued to roll round, so did the crowds around courts and it was great to see the support for all players competing on Monday.

The U17's Girls also saw a 3-0 win as Lijana Sultana win her first Australian Junior Open title and downed 2021 U15 Girl's champion Hannah Slyth. There was a sweet moment after winning her final as Sultana hugged her older sister.

However, the U17 Boy's final was a different story. After going down 2-0 to Thomas Scott, who hadn't dropped a game all tournament, James Slade pulled a game back in a close second set. It was a fantastic match between the two-New South Wales-based players but Scott would prevail to win the title. 

Then it all came down to the last final matches of the day.

West Australian Oscar Curtis took the U19 Boy’s title for the second consecutive year after defeating Queensland’s Luke Eyles 3-0 in the final. 

“I feel great,” Curtis said after his victory. “I worked pretty hard for this event and I’m glad it paid off.”

It was a great start for the no.1 seed who went up early in the first game but had to avoid a few close moments as Eyles kept within touching distance. The second game in particular showed exactly what the Queenslander is capable of as he once again went up 3-0 before succumbing to that lead. 

While Eyles was able to bring it level, Curtis took the second and then took the overall victory in quick succession to win the John Palmer Trophy 3-0.

“I think I kept consistent in the match, kept the pressure high and stroke down with that,” Curtis explained. “I just tried to play as consistently as I could this week and it paid off.” 

Over in the U19 Girl’s, it was another Western Australia v Queensland match as Erin Classen and Madison Lyon went head-to-head. 

Classen was looking to defend her title from 2021 but after missing the event last year due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Lyon was ready to put up a challenge. 

In the final match of the day, it was a tight contest between the top two seeds at the tournament and while Lyon was able to take the first set, Classen showed her prowess taking six consecutive points to level the match at 1-1.

Keeping her composure, the Queenslander managed to take game three and as the two tousled for every point it wasn’t until Lyon was able to take a 8-7 lead that wave of momentum hit.

Pulling three more points without a response, Lyon, who almost didn’t make it to Bendigo took the Sarah Fitz-Gerald trophy.

“It feels really good. It was a bit of a tough week leading up to it as I had to quarantine but coming here and being here is really amazing because I didn’t think I would get to come this year again,” said Lyon, who caught COVID ahead of the event.  

“It was a bit unfortunate but I’m here and was able to make it.”

The full results can be found here.

AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR OPEN MEDALLISTS

Under 19 Boy's
Oscar Curtis
Luke Eyles
Gregory Chan

Under 19 Girl's
Madison Lyon
Erin Classen
Maggie Goodman

Under 17 Boy's
Thomas Scott
James Slade
Aryan Madan

Under 17 Girl's
Lijana Sultana
Hannah Slyth
Katlyn Hall

U15 Boy's
Joshua Rahul Raj
Kasper Cheung
Marcus Wang

U15 Girl's
Soha Khatri
Sarbani Maitra
Joanne Joseph

U13 Boy's
Joel Roshan Raj
Henry Kross
James Boswell

U13 Girl's
Tina Ma
Madison Nargar
Claudi Burger

U11 Boy's
Thomas Wang
Cameron Ackroyd
Kyan Phuah

U11 Girl's
Mei Rie Lee
Elizabeth Wang
Vera Bruce