Finals locked and loaded at Australian Junior Open

The finals are locked in for the 2022 Australian Junior Open after a tough and exciting day at Bendigo Squash Centre.

The day got underway with a number of quarter-finals in the U17 and U19 Boy's before the afternoon was highlighted by players vying for a chance to be in the Final. So as the nerves built so did the excitement around the venue. 

Semi-finals action got underway just after midday with the U17 Girl’s. In her first Australian Junior Open, Queensland’s Lijana Sultana got up 5-11 4-11 5-11 in her game against Katlyn Hall. 

Speaking after the match, Sultana said she’d be playing well and challenging herself throughout the tournament so far.

“I’m really excited, it is a great opportunity at my first AJO so I’m really happy to be here,” she said. “I’m not thinking about it too much [the final] but I think if I just play well and stick with my game I’ll be fine.”

Sultana will face no.3 seed Hannah Slyth in the final, after she beat the no.3 seed 0-11, 2-11, 3-11. 

Following on from that match was the U19 Girl’s. The match on court 1 between Western Australia’s Erin Classen and Maggie Goodman was a fantastic contest. 

Goodman, who is from New South Wales, put up a challenge for the reigning U19 Girl’s Australian Junior Open champion. In a close fought second set, it looked like it could’ve went either way. 

However, Classen’s was able to remain calm under pressure to advance to the final where she’ll face Queensland’s Madison Lyon, who is back at her first Australian Junior Open since pre-COVID-19. 

The no.1 seed felt good about her semi-final performance.

“I pushed myself and Maggie put up a good fight as well. I haven’t played her for almost a year now so it’s been pretty good playing against her and it was a good challenge,” Classen said.

“I’m excited to play against Maddie, I haven’t played since I was younger.”

Being from West Australia it’s been a while since Classen has been able to actively play against players in other States or even see them in some cases so coming to Bendigo has been a great experience. 

“It’s good to see everyone from around Australia come back. It’s good to see new faces and how well Australia has been doing.”

Over in the boy’s events, the U11’s saw Kyan Phuah from Malaysia and Thomas Wang go head-to-head. It was a close match between the two especially after Phuah fought back from being a game down to level it. 

While Phuah came close in the following game, Wang was able to charge home to book his spot in the final against Cameron Ackroyd.

“I feel pretty happy and I feel pretty hyped up. I think I’ll do well [in finals] but I’m pretty nervous,” Wang said.

As the day drew to a close their were a number of tense semi-finals battles across the U17 and U19 Boy’s. 

In the U17’s Thomas Scott continued his perfect run through the tournament and is yet to drop a game, winning all his matches 3-0 against Will Slade. It will be an all-NSW final the no.1 seed will come up against James Slade.

It was a tense match against no.2 seed Aryan Madan for James with the skill of both players on show - even drawing a crowd around Court 1. But as Slade won the final point, he let out a loud ‘yes’ in relief.

“Me and him [Thomas Scott] have played each other in tournaments throughout NSW, we train together and we’re pretty good mates off court, he’s beaten me, I’ve beaten him but I feel ready,” Slade said.

The last matches of the day came from the U19 Boy’s with Oscar Curtis defeating Gregory Chan 3-0. But it was the game over on court 2, that drew some wandering eyes as Luke Eyles and Dylan Classen battled it out. After taking the first game 11-6, Classen’s came back fighting and flipped the score around to draw it level. 

Despite a third that saw Classen's go 7-4 up, Eyles was able to hit six points to reach match point and eventually take the game. Going into the fourth, it was once again another tight battle but with two games in hand already, it was Eyles' for the taking. 

Finals at the Australian Junior Open will get underway from 1pm AEST with placing matches starting from 8am.

All finals matches will be livestreamed through Cluch.tv.

To find the full results and schedule click here.

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