2022 Victorian Junior Championships wrap

The 2022 Victorian Junior Championships have come to a close at MSAC - Albert Park on a fierce final day.

With players coming from across New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, 74 athletes competed across Under 11 to Under 19 age groups in the two-day event.

Yashica Jiwa Mohan secured top place in the U11 Girls round-robin group, finishing the Junior Championships with three wins on the final day. 

In the U11 Boys, Jensen Ooi and Jay Porwal topped their group before facing off in the final on Sunday. In a close match, that saw the opening game go to 14-12, Ooi dominated the following two games to take the match 3-0 (14-12 11-2 11-2) to win his first Victorian Junior Championships title.

Meanwhile, Tina Ma won her third State title after taking out the U13 Girls event. Ma, from Squash Logic Melton, was pushed all the way in her semi-final against Emilia Scott which saw their match go to five games.

Meeting Olivia Van Zon of South Adelaide Squash Centre in the final, it was a close-fought game, especially in the third game but Ma proved too strong winning 3-0 (11-6 11-5 12-10).

Over in the U13 Boys, Daisy Hill Squash Club's Joel Roshan Raj and Northmead Squash Courts' Kieran Willathgamuw were placed at either end of the draw being the No.1 and No.2 seeds respectively. Meeting in the U13 Boys final, both hadn’t dropped a game heading into the match.

Raj won 3-0 (11-7 11-4 11-3) to secure his second title of the year after winning the U13 Boy’s Queensland Junior Championships in June. He also went on to win the U15 Boy’s title with a 3-1 (11-9 9-11 11-8 11-4) win over Connor Haberecht.

The U15 Girls title came down to one of the final matches of the day as Joanne Joseph beat Amelia Brigden 11-2 11-2 11-5 to win her third title following her victories at the Queensland Junior Championships and South Australian Junior Championships. 

RACV Club's Amelie Guziak won both the Girls U17 and U19 titles in an undefeated tournament. Guziak had a hard-fought victory over Courtney Sholtz in the final match of the event, going all the way to five sets. 

Emmy Lamb continued her momentum from the NSW Junior Championships, finishing runner-up in both the U17 and U19 Girls events.

In a re-match of the Queensland Junior Championships U17 Boys final, No.1 seed Joshua Rahul Raj and No.3 seed Haider Naqvi from Gladstone Park Junior Squash Club met once again but this time there was a different winner.

In a match that lasted nearly 50 minutes, Naqvi was 1-2 down heading into the fourth game. It was hard to separate the two players but Naqvi managed to find the advantage he needed to level the match. 

Naqvi went on to win the fifth game as well to secure the Boys U17 title.

Willoughby Squash Club's Kenneth Lamb was the surprise packet in the U19 Boys, beating the No.3 seed Ryan Kelton and No.2 seed Connor Hayes on his way to the final against Andre Lynn.

In a five-game thriller, that lasted over half an hour, Lynn took the first two games before Lamb won the next two to level the match.

Lynn, who is from Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, rocketed through the fifth game with an 11-3 win to secure the title with a 3-2 victory.

For full results, click here 

2022 Victorian Junior Championships Results

Girls U11 - Yashica Jiwa Mohan, Shara Sumanth, Amy Flint
Boys U11 - Jenson Ooi, Jay Porwal, Thomas Harper
Girls U13 - Tina Ma, Olivia Van Zon, Emilia Scott
Boys U13 - Joel Roshan Raj, Kieran Willathgamuw, Max Aitken
Girls U15 - Joanne Joseph, Amelia Brigden, Peppa Casey
Boys U15 - Joel Roshan Raj, Connor Haberecht, Denver Field
Girls U17 - Amelie Guziak, Emmy Lamb, Dakshyani Muniandy
Boys U17 - Haider Naqvi, Joshua Rahul Raj, Kumail Naqvi 
Girls U19 - Amelie Guziak, Emmy Lamb, Courtney Scholtz
Boys U19 - Andre Lynn, Kenneth Lamb, Connor Hayes