KINGSTON, Jamaica — Squash player Alyssa Mullings blew through the field at the All Jamaica Junior Championships to retain the Girls Open title at the tournament, which was held over the weekend.

The top-performing teenager maintained her dominant form, beating arch-rival Mary Mahfood 3-2 to win the championships. The victory is another confidence boost for the youngster who is all set to defend her regional Under-15 title at the Caribbean Area Squash Association Championships in Trinidad later this month.

Another successful title defence was posted by Mia Mahfood, who easily retained her Under-13 crown. Mahfood came through the round robin tournament with the maximum 12 points, while Mira Handa was second with nine, and Mia Lake placed third with six.

In the Boys’ competition, even though long-time champions made their presence felt, several newcomers managed to assert themselves. Last year’s Under-17 champion Julian Morrison took the Under-19 title without losing a match, finishing with 12 points to relegate perennial rival Jake Mahfood to second. Mahfood had better luck in the Under-17 competition, where he won the overall title.

New champions emerged in all of the other age groups, including Tahjia Lumley, who held off last year’s Under-13 Boys’ champion Jonathan Walker to win the Under-15 boys’ title. Lumley’s 3-1 victory left Walker in second place, while Luke Roberts beat Adam Ardito 3-1 to place third. Ardito came out on top in the Under-13 Boys’ competition, finishing ahead of Joe Rousseau, whom he beat 3-0. In the Under-11 competition, the winner was Sebastian Levy, who earned nine points to beat William Wildish, who finished with six points.

“Overall we saw a good standard of play in this year’s championships,” said coach Rene Denis, who is in charge of the National Junior Squash Programme.

“In addition to technique we have been placing a lot of emphasis on overall fitness and we’re starting to see some of the benefits of that now in competition,” he added.

The juniors will now focus their attention on the Caribbean Area Squash Association Championships, which is set for July 19-27 in Trinidad & Tobago.