2023 Australian Junior Championships Day 1 wrap up

The first day of the 2023 Australian Junior Championships has wrapped up at Brisbane’s Daisy Hill Squash & Racquet Club with several defending champions through to the next round of the tournament. 

Girls Under 19 defending champion, Madison Lyon (QLD) will be looking to secure her third title after cruising through to the semis with a win against Caitlin Pratt (WA) 11-4, 11-2, 11-6. 

“There’s certainly a lot of pressure to try and back up an AJC win in the U19 Girls for a third time,” said Lyon. “However regardless of this pressure I think that I’m definitely up to the challenge and excited to have the opportunity to take out this title one last time.”. 

Lyon will now meet 3/4 seed Hannah Slyth (WA) in Wednesday’s semi-final. 

In the same division, 5/8 seed Shona Coxsedge (QLD) defeated World Junior Championships teammate Amelie Guziak (VIC) in a five-game thriller 11-3, 0-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9. 

“A very up-and-down game, I kept my head together and I am really grateful that I got through,” Coxsedge said. 

“It feels amazing to get the win today. I upped my training ahead of the tournament. It’s great to see that results are coming. 

“I am hoping to make it to the final, that was my goal from the start. We take it each game as it comes. I am looking forward to playing Courtney (Scholtz) in semis.” 

U19 Boys top seed Oscar Curtis (WA) will face off against Queensland’s Josh Porter in the quarter-finals, with second seed Ken Lamb (NSW) taking on Canberra’s Harry Burgess for a spot in the semi-final. 

U17 Boys top seed and Australian Junior Open runner-up Darcy Hayes (VIC) is through to the quarter-finals following his 12-10, 11-2, 11-6 win over Waldo Vorster (WA). 

“I was very nervous at the start, I got through in the end just by grinding through it. It has been very hot and the ball was bouncing everywhere which meant long rallies,” he said.  

“I am still feeling nervous for tomorrow as today wasn’t my best performance, but I still think I can get the win tomorrow. It should be a good match as he [Aiden Finlay-Mulligan (WA)] is left-handed so that will be fun.”

In the U15 Girls, Queensland’s Sarbani Maitra’s title defence is also off to a great start, securing a place in the semi-finals after spending a total of 25 minutes on court in wins over Eden-Alma Poulava (NSW) and Jessica Jellis (WA). 

“I felt pretty strong and think I played well. I was working on getting my game plan sorted and as I get into the tougher matches I’m hoping to keep that form,” said Maitra. 

The U13 Boys and Girls divisions both saw upsets with 9/16 seeds Riyo Kawabata (QLD) and Isabella Wilcox (QLD) defeating 3/4 seeds Elizabeth Wang (NSW) and Jaida Wigley (NSW) respectively. 

U13 Boys saw a similar result with 9/16 seed Domenic Christou (WA) upsetting 3/4 seed James Sanders (SA) - 7-11, 8-11, 6-1. 

For all Day 1 results click here