Home town stars shine as AJC titles decided

If NSW players were perceived to have an advantage going into this year’s Australian Junior Championships, it was only heightened for those playing on their home courts with three players from Thornleigh Squash Centre coming away with 2024 titles.

The victories were highlighted by the brother-sister pairing of Thomas and Emilia Scott who took a rare brother-sister double while Kasper Cheung put on one of the most dominant displays of the final day of individual play.

In all, NSW took out six of the 10 title on offer to sound a warning ahead of the Teams event starting on Wednesday.

UNDER 19 BOYS
After winning the Australian Junior Open earlier in the year, Thomas Scott had his sights set on the AJO-AJC double and emerged victorious in the final against top seed Daniel Marsh (WA).

Scott was out of the blocks quickly to claim the first game before the West Australian evened the match up.

The New South Welshman reclaimed the lead in the third but after a seemingly innocuous collision one point into the fourth game, Marsh was forced to take an injury break to work on his back.

After the restart, Scott jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Marsh worked his body back into the match, claiming nine of the next 11 points to take a narrow lead. While he was then able to save one match ball, Scott eventually triumphed 11-9 to claim his first AJC title at his last-ever attempt.

“I just had this one solid game plan in my mind, and I had confidence in that game plan,” said Scott. “My coach just told me ‘attack the length and keep grinding, wait for the errors’ and I had that in my head.

“Finishing with this AJC at home is just great.” 

UNDER 19 GIRLS
With both finalists playing up an age, the Under 19 Girls decider was always going to be a window to the future and the stars of the show didn’t disappoint.

The first game was hard-fought with Joanne Joseph (VIC) saving two game balls before earning one more which was also denied. Sarbani Maitra’s third game ball was also defused before she finally claimed the opener 13-11.

Joseph never trailed in the second game to even the match up, and even though she was able to save two more game balls in the third, Maitra was able to earn a 2-1 lead.

The Victorian led early in the fourth, but from 6-7 down Maitra reeled off four straight points to be on the edge of victory. Joseph saved two match balls before the Queenslander eventually claimed victory. 

“It feels amazing,” said Maitra. “I was just going in with no expectations whatsoever,  just play my heart out and I think I did that. 

“I played her in the semi-finals of the 2022 AJC and I just wanted to feel like I did then - I peaked then and I wanted to feel like that again in this match.

“When I was 4-2 down [in the fourth game] I saw flashes of what it would be like to hold the trophy up tonight and that kind of motivated me to push myself in that game so I was so happy.

“I was in tears because I had an injury right before this,  I didn’t know if I could play 19s - I didn’t know if I was fit enough - but I think I proved that I was in the end and I’m just so ecstatic right now.”

UNDER 17 BOYS
Kasper Cheung put on one of the most impressive performances of the days en route to the Boys Under 17 crown, defeating fellow New South Welshman Stanley Chung 3-0.

Playing on his home court, the top seed dropped just 10 points on his way to victory in a tournament he dominated from start to finish. Over his five matches at this year’s AJC, Cheung conceded an average of less than 13 points per match and won 15 unbroken games across the four days of competition.

UNDER 17 GIRLS
Coffs Harbour’s Eden-Alma Poulava (QLD) showed her true grit to outlast Lilly Wilson (QLD) 3-2 in the Girls Under 17 Final.

Poulava also needed five games yesterday just to make it through the semis and that experience held her in good stead for today’s contest.

Twice Poulava took a one-game lead in the decider and twice Wilson reeled her back in to send it to a fifth game. Poulava then jumped out to a 5-0 lead and while the Queenslander was able to save two match balls, Poulava claimed her third to collect her first national title.

UNDER 15 BOYS
In one of the most enthralling contests of the day, Henry Kross (NSW) came back from 1-2 down to score victory over over Joel Raj (QLD) in a clash which lasted almost an hour.

The Parkes player was off to a hot start to win the first game 11-5, however from that moment it was a battle of attrition with every other game going past the 11-point mark.

Raj won the next two games 15-13, 13-11 and looked on target for victory when he earned four match balls at 10-6 the fourth game.

However cramp was clearly an issue for the Queenslander and Kross showed plenty of grit to win seven of the next nine points and set up a grandstand finish.

Raj then found a new lease of life in the decider and never trailed on his way to a 10-5 lead to again be on the precipice of victory. Again, Kross came back to lock the game up at 10-all and then saved a further two match balls - bringing him to match total of 11.

The second seed then claimed the 119th and 120th to win his second AJC crown having taken the Under 11 title in 2020.

UNDER 15 GIRLS
Emilia Scott put form aside to claim her first Australian Junior Championship, defeating Tina Ma (VIC) 3-1 in the Girls Under 15 Final.

Ma has been one of the form junior players in the country this year,  winning the AJO and Oceania Junior Championships as well as proceeding through the Junior Trans-Tasman Series with an undefeated record.

At the AJO, Scott won the first game in their quarter-final meeting before the Victorian got on top and scored the win.

History looked like repeating when the second seed opened with an 11-9 game win before Ma evened up the contest.

From that point on, Scott never trailed on the scoreboard, winning the next two games to claim another home ground title for the Thornleigh player.

UNDER 13 BOYS
Top seed Benjamin Boardman (NSW) went into the Under 13 Boys final with ranking on his side however in Grayson Coleman (QLD), he was up against a player who had eliminated three players with higher seedings en route to the final.

Boardman claimed the opening game before Coleman showed the form which had taken him all the way to the final, winning the second game by nine points.

While the next two matches were hard-fought, Boardman won the points which mattered most to take the first of what he hopes will be many national championships.

UNDER 13 GIRLS
The top two seeds met in the Girls Under 13 final and it was Timonaliz Alarcos-Kriebisch (QLD) who finished on top with a 3-0 victory.

The Queenslander dropped just two points in the first game however Cleo Poulava (NSW) was just two points away from squaring the match up before Alarcos-Kriebisch went bang-bang-bang to take a 2-0 lead.

At four-all in the third the match still looked to have some life in it, however the second seed took seven of the next eight points to play her way to victory.

UNDER 11 BOYS
Victoria’s Aleister Loo fell just short of winning the AJO in April but wasn’t to be denied at the AJC, winning his first national title with a 3-0 victory over Bodhi Wratten (NSW).

Both players were keen to put an end to the points quickly which made for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it match, however the style of play suited Loo best, never trailing on the way to the title.

UNDER 11 GIRLS
Abbey Boswell (QLD) took the first AJC title of 2024 with a 3-0 win over Victoria’s Meriam Ibrahim.

The Queenslander had conceded just 12 points on her way to the title and was once again impressive in the final.

After racing through the first game, Boswell trailed 6-7 in the second before asserting her dominance on the match.

The top seed won five straight points to win the game, then turned that into an 11 point run to hold a six-point lead in the third.

Boswell and Ibrahim went point-for-point for the remainder of the match but the second seed was never able to reel in the deficit. 

2024 AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thornleigh Squash & Fitness Centre, Sydney NSW
Day 4 | Tuesday 1 October 2024

Girls Finals
U19 [2] Sarbani Maitra (QLD) d [1] Joanne Joseph (VIC) 3-1 (13-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9)
U17 [5/8] Eden-Alma Poulava (NSW) d [5/8] Lilly Wilson (QLD) 3-2 (11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5)
U15 [2] Emilia Scott (NSW) d [1] Tina Ma (VIC) 3-1 (11-9,, 6-11 11-9, 11-7)
U13 [2] Timonaliz Alarcos-Kriebisch (QLD) d [1] Cleo Poulava (NSW) 3-0 (11-2, 11-9, 11-5)
U11 [1] Abbey Boswell (QLD) v [2] Meriam Ibrahim (VIC) 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-4)

Boys Finals
U19 [2] Thomas Scott (NSW) d [1] Daniel Marsh (WA) 3-1 (11-5, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9)
U17 [1] Kasper Cheung (NSW) d [3/4] Stanley Chung (NSW) 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-3)
U15 [2] Henry Kross (NSW) d [1] Joel Raj (QLD) 3-2 (11-5, 13-15, 11-13, 14-12, 14-12)
U13 [1] Benjamin Boardman (NSW) v [9/16] Grayson Coleman (QLD) 3-1 (11-8,, 2-11 11-7, 11-6)
U11 [1] Aleister Loo (VIC) v [2] Bodhi Wratten (NSW) 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-5)