Day FIVE at the BJO 2022 – Finals Day
Torrie Malik and Sam Todd produced an English double in Nottingham as they claimed the 2022 BJO crowns …
FINALS :
[3/4] Torrie Malik (Eng) 3-2 [1] Caroline Fouts (Eng) 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 3-11, 11-2 (44m)
[1] Sam Todd (Eng) 3-1 [5/8] Hassan Khalil (Eng) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (50m)
3rd/4th :
Lucie Stefanoni (Usa) 3-0 Asia Harris (Eng) 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 (20m)
Ameeshenraj Chandaran (Mas) w/o Jonah Bryant (Eng) w/d ill
Malik stops Fouts fightback
Malik, who had beaten the second seed in the semis, was dominant in the opening two games, but a fightback towards the end of the second by Fouts was a precursor of what was to come.
With Malik’s error count rising. Fouts levelled the match with some comfort, and looked the likely winner. But from the start of the fifth Malik regained her early form and ran out the winner 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 3-11, 11-2 in 44 minutes.
I’m so over the moon that I’m British Junior Open Champion. First ever one for the most prestigious event for juniors. I couldn’t be happier.
All credit to my opponent Caroline.. Great match! Here’s to a more title in January for my last BJO
Sam completes the full BJO set
When Sam took a 7-0 lead it looked as though Hassan’s time was up, but not a bit of it – he fought back strongly, levelled at 8-all and with Sam making errors and Hassan hitting power winners, took the game 11-9!
Hassan continued to play well for the rest of the match, but Sam started getting his usual control back, and led the next three games throughout to complete a 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 win in 50 minutes.
“That was a tough match – the way Hassan got here with three tough matches, he should have been tired! It feels great to win another BJO title, and especially to receive it from Mohamed.
“Thanks to England Squash for getting the event on and to the club, organisers, refs and everyone involved, it’s great to get back to something approaching a normal tournment after missing the last two years.”
