ASPIRE Squash players take part in french junior open

“Tough tournament but great experience” says Head Squash Coach Geoff Hunt Nine ASPIRE student-athletes have just taken part in the French Junior Squash Open, held in Lille in northern France. Along with the British, Dutch and Pioneer (German) Junior Championships, the French Junior Open is one of the top European tournaments. With a large draw of up to 64 players from more than 20 countries, this turned out to be a tough tournament for the ASPIRE players. Eight of them managed to win at least one match, with the best finishing position being that of Abdulla Al-Tamimi, who finished in 22nd place. Head Squash Coach Geoff Hunt said Abdulla had hopes of faring better in the tournament - but he came up against the number 2 seed, Oliver Holland from England, in the second round, which meant he could not finish in the top 16. Against Oliver, Abdulla managed to win the second game but his English opponent put the Qatari under a lot of pressure and, in the end, proved too strong. One of the players who tried hard throughout the tournament - and won three of his six matches overall - was Syed Azlan Amjad. One of those matches was a tough encounter against fellow ASPIRE player Abdullah Al-Mass. Syed lost the first two games but stormed back to win 11-9 in the fifth. The other ASPIRE player who won three of his matches was Omar Abdulla Ahmed, who finished in 23rd place. The French and Austrian Junior Opens were the first European events in which most of the boys have competed for 12 months - and the first altogether for the two youngest players. Geoff Hunt said: “I am sure this winter camp has given them great match experience and helps spur them on to better things in Europe during the summer and for Qatar regionally. Most will be competing in the GCC Under 19 and Under 15 tournaments starting in a few days time. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS FOR ASPIRE’S SQUASH PLAYERS AT FRENCH JUNIOR OPEN Players Event Finishing Position Matches Won Abdulla Al-Tamimi Under 17 22 2 from 4 Syed Azlan Iqbal Under 15 36 3 from 6 Abdullah Al-Mass Under 15 40 2 from 6 Umair Zaman Under 13 36 2 from 5 Sadam Mehawesh Under 15 46 2 from 6 Omar Abdulla Ahmed Under 17 23 3 from 6 Faisal Masoud Al-Marri Under 15 62 1 from 6 Khalid Alhandawi Under 19 55 0 from 4 Abdulwahab Al-Ishaq Under 13 39 2 from 5