The British Junior Open comes to an end as Australian juniors look towards the season ahead

The prestigious British Junior Open concluded on Sunday night in Birmingham, UK. The event, which took place in six different Birmingham locations and included over 1,500 matches and 659 junior players, was a huge success. With 23 Australian junior players performing admirably over the four-day event, seven finished in the top 32.

Australia's highest finishing athlete was Elizabeth Wang who placed 20th in the U11 category, followed by Madison Lyon placed 21st in the U19 Girls. Sarbani Maitra who was the only Australian to compete in the U15 Placed 22nd and U17s Amelie Guziak finished her tournament experience in 30th position. 

Oscar Curtis finished 28th in the U19 category to lead the Australian Junior boys. Kasper Cheung placed 30th in the U15 division, while Kieran Willathgamuwa finished 31st in the U13.

National Coach Stewart Boswell said he was pleased with the performance of the Australian juniors and hopes that the tournament will inspire them to continue their journey and become stronger athletes.

"It was always going to be a tough test competing at a tournament of this level, however there were some really positive performances from within our group," said Stewart.

"The bar at the junior level has clearly been set by some of the other major nations, such as Egypt and the USA. For the Australian players, seeing this level first hand, and the standard that can be achieved through a lot of hard work hopefully motivates them to take steps in that direction."

Victoria’s Amelie Guziak found the Girls U17 tournament to be "intense and alive with hundreds of players hungry to win."

Her toughest match t was against Poland's Maja Maziuk who Guziak played against in round five of the tournament. Guziak took away the win after an intense 5 match game (13-11, 2-11, 11-8, 10-12, 16-14).

"The match against Maja Maziuk was my hardest match, testing my mental and physical abilities," said Guziak. 

"The tough part of that match was remaining focused, containing all emotion and exhibiting confidence despite what the scoreboard said. I ended up winning in 5 but there were some brutal rallies, particularly nearing the end of the match. It was a quality match."

Looking towards the season ahead, this tournament was the perfect motivator for Guziak, who is ready to take on the challenges that 2023 may bring. 

"This tournament has motivated me further to train harder. I'm looking forward to the new challenges that squash will present in 2023. Watching the world's best has shown me what I'm up against and what is required to be the best. I’m looking forward to the next international tournament," said Guziak. 

Even though he finished outside of the top 32 Australian Connor Hayes found the U19 competition to be a valuable opportunity to see the different standards from around the world. 

"The tournament was a great experience in regards to getting exposed to different players as well as the standard of the top players in each age group." 

Hayes was taken by surprise when he found himself up against Egyptian player Omar Azzam, finding Azzam's style of play to be unlike anything he had seen in Australia. The Egyptian took away the win against Hayes with a game score of 11- 6 11-5 11-2. 

"I found the toughest match to be Omar from Egypt as his style and movement were very different to what is seen in Australia. Additionally the standard was also much higher, making my ability to adjust to the match and win points much more difficult," said Hayes.  

Hayes will continue his European tour in the coming weeks, competing in more international tournaments.

"I am excited for my next few weeks of travel across Europe as I will be training with new people in new cities as well as competing in more international tournaments such as the Czech, French and German Junior Opens," said Hayes. 

Australia’s up and coming female squash player Madison Lyon finished her British Junior Open experience placing 21st in the U19 category. 

Lyon found it difficult to mentally and physically push through the rough patches in her squash after flying for 21 hours. She said that adapting to the colder weather, both on and off the court, was also a challenge. Despite all these factors Lyon was able to overcome these challenges and enjoy the tournament.

"Factors like these that add to the stress and pressure of the tournament are all part of the experience and journey of growing, finding what and what doesn’t work,” she said.

“Overall, while I did face some challenges that took me out of my comfort zone, it was an incredible experience in which I learned so much about myself and my squash. There is certainly a lot to take away from this event and work on so that I can hopefully return stronger next year," Lyon said.

Lyon is eager to begin her professional career and gain valuable experience through PSA and international tournaments such as the British Junior Open.

“I’m most excited to start full time training without the stresses of school, but also starting my career and continuing to gain experience throughout PSA’s and international tournaments like this,” she said. 

To see all of your Australian junior results - click here