In its 100-year history, the British Junior Open (BJO) has established itself as a proven breeding ground for future professional greatness – and there are few clearer examples than Malaysia’s Nicol David.
She was top of the world rankings for an unbroken nine years and four months and won the world title eight times (a tally recently matched by Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini).
Like so many world champions, it was at the British Junior Open that David got her first taste of international competition. Winning the BJO GU14 title in Sheffield in 1996 was her first major trophy. She went on to win another four BJO titles in successive years before embarking on her iconic senior career.
In total, five different winners of British Junior Open girls’ titles have gone on to become women’s world champion, with nine former BJO boys’ title winners later lifting the world title on a collective 19 occasions.
These metrics, and many others, highlight the reason why young squash players continue to flock to England from afar every January — because the tournament is a proven platform for juniors who aspire to be the best in the world.
“Winning my first BJO title in the GU14 was significant for me to gauge where I was in the world,” she reflected. “This gave me the confidence to take on everything else after that whenever I competed elsewhere,” said the Malaysian.
David is one of four female players to have won titles in all four age categories at the BJO (before the introduction of a fifth at U11 in 2018). The other three are Nour El Tayeb, Hania El Hammamy and Raneem El Welily.
El Welily’s record of six BJO titles puts her alongside England’s Lucy Soutter and second only to all-time record holder Omneya Abdel Kawy, who won seven.
El Welily, like David, went on to become world champion in her senior career (winning in Manchester in 2017). She also looks back on the BJO as a competition that fuelled her lifelong passion for competition.
“The British Junior Open is where I completed internationally for the very first time,” she said. “It was my door to a whole new world, a world that made my eyes sparkle and where my love for the game grew bigger and bigger each year.”
On the men’s side, Mohamed ElShorbagy was a five-time winner at the British Junior Open (U15 in 2006, U17 in 2007 and U19 in 2008, 2009 and 2010). He is the only player to have won the Drysdale Cup (i.e. the boys’ U19 title) three times, a total bettered only by Del Harris with four (1985-88).
ElShorbagy, of course, went on to become world champion in 2017 and was no.1 in the world for a total of four years and two months over five separate spells at the summit of the PSA rankings.
“I knew about the history of the British Junior Open since I was 10 years old,” said the current England no.2. “It’s such an important event.
“For it to be entering its 100th year shows how amazing England Squash has done to host a successful event that all the juniors around the world want to go to and really want to win. It’s an unbelievable achievement for everyone involved.”
The Alexandria-born legend continued: “For me, the major junior events were an important step to help me achieve the ultimate goal.”
Along with ElShorbagy, the other BJO boys’ title winners who became world champions are: Ramy Ashour, Nick Matthew, Tarek Momen, Gregory Gaultier, Karim Abdel Gawad, Ali Farag, Diego Elias and Mostafa Asal. On the women’s side, Cassie Jackman, Nicol David, Nour El Sherbini, Raneem El Welily and Nouran Gohar have all done the double.
Who will become the future Mohamed ElShorbagy, Nicol David or Raneem El Welily? The 100th British Junior Open in January 2026 will certainly give us strong clues. The youngsters who celebrate the event’s centenary as champions will announce themselves as stars of the future.
Watch the 2026 Alpha Bravo Construction British Junior Open live and for free here on the official website. You can also catch the action on SQUASHTV, Worldsquash.tv and esfsquash.tv.
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