Some fresh faces were in the winner’s circle as the Jamaica Squash Association staged its first Junior Tournament of 2016 at the Liguanea Club in Kingston recently.

In the girls’ Under-13 age group, newcomer Alia Haddad emerged the winner after beating Madeline Jones 11-3, 11-6. Similarly, in the boys’ Under-13 B category competition debutant Luke Hussey beat Josh Shirley 11-8, 11-6, and Mathew Sewell 11-1, 11-3 to take the top position. Shirley and Sewell were second and third, respectively.

Another breakthrough winner was John Paul Asher who came out on top in the boys’ Under-15 age group. Firing on all cylinders Asher beat second place finisher Kyle Haddad 11-1, 11-5 and dished out an 11-5, 11-0 defeat to Alex Desnoes, who was third.

However, while some of the newcomers had an impact, some of the seasoned campaigners also made their presence felt. All Jamaica Under-15 girls’ champion Mia Mahfood took care of business, beating long-time rival Mia Lake 11-5, 11-9 to win her age group category.

In the same vein, All Jamaica Under-11 boys’ champion Tobias Levy topped the Under-13 competition after posting an 11-6, 11-4 win over Aman Dhiman, who was second and an 11-5, 11-2 beating to Brady Holmes, who finished third.

Commenting on the competition, Junior Squash Programme Manager Gill Binnie said: “It was exciting to see new faces taking top positions in some age groups, while some of our stronger players are continuing to shine. It’s early days yet, but we’re seeing positive signs from our juniors as we start the preparation for the Caribbean Championships this summer.”