Five players who could upset the seedings at the 2025 British Junior Open

The 2025 British Junior Open will see over 700 of the world’s best young squash players descend on Birmingham to compete for 10 titles and announce themselves as contenders for future world and potentially Olympic glory.

We take a look at the names that could spring out from the pack and cause a stir in Birmingham in early January.

BU19: Ahmed Rashed (Egypt)

The boys’ U19 draw opens up somewhat this year with Mohamed Zakaria having made his mark on the PSA Tour in 2024 (winning five titles) and choosing not to defend his crown in Birmingham. Ahmed Rashed could be the one to step into the limelight and cause a few upsets. The 17-year-old won the recent Egyptian Junior Open as 5/8 seed, toppling favourite Mahmoud Ahmed in five games. He also has an illustrious history at the British Junior Open – becoming the first ever winner of the U11 title when the age category was introduced in 2018 and reaching the U13 final as a 9/16 seed in 2020.

GU19: Samantha Jaffe (USA)

With last year’s U19 finalist Caroline Fouts now graduated into the senior ranks, Samantha Jaffe becomes one of USA’s leading girls’ title contenders. The American team had their best ever BJO last year with four semi-finalists, and this year the US team will be hungrier than ever to land a podium finish. Samantha was winner of the 2023 Pan American Junior Championship and part of the USA team who finished runners-up in this year’s World Junior Team Championship in Houston. We can’t mention her without also highlighting her twin Alexandra, who showed she has just as much potential by winning a battle of the Philadelphia-based sisters in the final of the Dutch Junior Open in July.

BU17: Amir Khaled-Jousselin (France)

Amir’s breakout moment came at this year’s European U19 Mixed Team Championships in Bucharest, when an unforgettable final against 34-time winners England came down to his third-string game. Aged just 15, the Nancy-born youngster defeated AbdAllah Eissa in straight games to clinch France’s first ever title. He called it “undoubtedly the best moment of my career so far.” Currently ranked U17 No.1 in Europe, he has wins in the French and Belgian Junior Opens under his belt this year. Amir will fancy improving on his fifth-place finish last year in Birmingham, when he was knocked out by top seed and eventual title winner Youssef Salem in the quarter-finals.

GU17: Mariam Eissa (England)

Aged just 15, Mariam waltzed to the British U19 title in Sheffield in November, going one better than 2023 when she lost in the final to Amelie Haworth – despite being almost five years below the age limit! Mariam will be bidding to cause an upset amongst the world’s best in Birmingham – particularly as it’s near enough home turf for the youngster from nearby Kenilworth. With high-calibre players like India’s Anahat Singh and Egypt’s Habiba Rizk in the GU17 draw, this will be a great test of Eissa’s credentials.

GU13 Mahnoor Ali (Pakistan)

Mahnoor is the youngest of the three Ali sisters from Peshawar whose trip to Europe earlier this season to compete in three ESF junior circuit events caused many in the junior squash world to sit up and take notice. Mahnoor won the Danish and Hungarian U13 titles and finished runner-up at the Nordic Junior Open in Malmo. Prior to that, in December 2023, she won all seven matches to win the Scottish Junior Open U11 trophy. The British Junior Open will be a step up for Mahnoor as well as sisters Sehrish (U15) and Mehwish (U17), but it will be an intriguing gauge of their potential on the world stage.

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