Melbourne (TDI): Young squash players of Pakistan bagged four gold and one silver medals at the Australian Junior Squash Championship, on Thursday.
Azan Ali Khan secured Boys U-17 title after defeating Henry Kross by 3-0 whereas Ahmad Ali Naz became Pakistan’s youngest gold medalist when he won Boys U-11 finals against Freddie Goldsmith by 3-1.
Naz became the top ranked Pakistani in his age group to secure a gold medal at the championship.
Mehwish Ali won Girls U-17 title defeating Eden-Alma Poulava and her sister Mahnoor Ali secured Girls U-13 title against Riyo Kawabata.
The Ali sisters, Mehwish Ali, Mahnoor Ali, and Sehrish Ali, came as a trio. However, Sehrish Ali could not win the finals against Japan’s Emily Senior, despite putting up a solid fight in the U-15 finals. Emily secured the title by 3-2.
Gold in Australia, pride in Pakistan! Congrats to Pakistan’s junior squash champs who just aced the Aussie courts — 🥇🥇🥇🥇 + 🥈! Great seeing Pakistani talent shine on Australian turf.
This is what 🇦🇺 🇵🇰 #dosti looks like — sporty & spirited! https://t.co/bZMcskCHTQ https://t.co/SlUm0F5laj— Neil Hawkins (@AusHCPak) April 17, 2025
The first set of their game was dominated by Emily with a close margin of 15-13, however, in the second round, Sehrish Ali thrashed the Japanese player by 11-5. She is bringing home a silver medal, making the country proud over such a resounding fight.
The Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Neil Hawkins, congratulated the Pakistani squash players and said “Gold in Australia, pride in Pakistan! Congrats to Pakistan’s junior squash champs who just aced the Aussie courts.”
“Great seeing Pakistani talent shine on Australian turf. This is what Australia-Pakistan dosti looks like,” he added, celebrating Pakistan’s win and keeping up the sports spirit.
Earlier this month, Noor Zaman secured the men’s champion title at the U-23 World Squash Championship held in Karachi, after winning by 3-2 against Egypt’s Karim El Torkey.
Last year too, Pakistani young squash players made the country proud by winning gold and bronze medals at the Australian Junior Squash Championship 2024, held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre at Albert Park, Victoria.
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This year too, Pakistani squash players dominated the squash courts throughout the tournament, gathering impressive victories against other players.
In the Boys Under-13 championship, Huzaifa Shahid from Pakistan secured a victory against Australia’s Gng Hung Yu. Meanwhile, in Boys U-15, Yahya Khan triumphed over Henry Kross by 3-0.
In the Boys U-17 championship, Ibrahim Zeb from Pakistan won the title defeating Brodie Bannett of New Zealand by 3-0.
In Girls U-13, Mahnoor Ali had outshined Emily Senior of Malaysia by a strong 3-0, and Mehwish won the U-17 title by defeating Erin Wyllie of Malaysia by 3-2.
Harmas Ali Raja, Fawad Khan, abd Azaan Ali Khan had secured bronze medals after winning U-11, U-13, and U-15 games respectively.
Javaria Khalid is a writer and researcher, who specializes in Pakistan's Foreign Policy Analysis, Europe's Security, and Pakistan’s relations with the European countries and the EU. She can be reached at javariakhalid011@outlook.com
