The Pakistan flag was flying high at the Melbourne squash courts as the nation’s young stars bagged four gold medals and one silver at the Australian Junior Open on Thursday.
Mehwish Ali defended her Girls U-17 title after defeating Eden-Alma Poulava 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 in today’s final. The top seed remained undefeated throughout the tournament and didn’t cede a single set to her opponents.
Compatriot Azan Ali Khan took the Boys U-17 title in similar fashion with a dominating 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 win over local favourite Henry Kross.
Khan is ranked Number 2 in Pakistan in the Boys U-17 category as of March.
Top seed Mahnoor Ali snagged the Girls U-13 title when she thrashed Riyo Kawabata 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 in the final. The 12-year-old, who is currently top ranked in Pakistan, followed in her older sister’s footsteps in remaining undefeated throughout the tournament with three straight wins in each match.
Pakistan’s youngest gold medal came from Ahmad Ali Naz when he triumphed over local Freddie Goldsmith 3-1 in the Boys U-11 final. Naz is the number 1 ranked Pakistani in his age group, took the first set 11-5 before Goldsmith took the second set 11-2.
The second seed had his eye on the prize and blasted Goldsmith in the next two sets 11-6, 11-6 to take home the title.
The Ali sisters come as a trio, and Sehrish put up a solid fight in her final but it was ultimately Japan’s Emily Senior who triumphed 3-2 in the Girls U15 final.
Senior dominated in the first set with a 15-13 win over Sehrish, who then thrashed the Japanese 11-5 in the second game.
Top seed Senior once again took the score into overdrive as she won the third game 12-10. Sehrish, seeded second, took the fourth game 11-6. Senior took home the title with a resounding 11-4 win over the Pakistani, who came away from the thrilling match with a silver medal.
Earlier this month, Noor Zaman was crowned men’s champion at the U23 World Squash Championship in Karachi 3-2 after a stellar comeback against Egypt’s Karim El Torkey.