Squash: Israel outclassed at British Junior Open

While none managed to reach the later rounds, their defeats were to strong opponents, each one of whom went on to progress.

By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
squash sport 88 (photo credit: )
squash sport 88
(photo credit: )
The three Israeli participants in the British Junior Open Squash championships which took place this month in Sheffield, England, each recorded two victories and suffered one defeat. While none managed to reach the later rounds, their defeats were to strong opponents, each one of whom went on to progress. Ido Avron, Israel's junior champion who competed in the under-19 category, played against three English players, following the withdrawal of his scheduled first round opponent from the USA. Avron won his first match 3-0, lost his second by the same score to a highly ranked opponent who reached the semi-finals, and won his last match 3-1. Stav Cohen-Adiv, the Israeli junior girl champion, played in the girls under-15 category. She lost her first round match to a player from Hong Kong who went on to reach the quarter finals, and then defeated her next two opponents, from Holland and India respectively, by scores of 3-0. Daniel Poleshchuk, who played in the under-13 age category, lost his second round match 3-0 to an Egyptian who eventually reached the semi-finals, and then comfortably won his next two matches against players from Hungary and England by 3-0 scores. Avron will participate later this month in another European championship, the Czech Junior Open, where he is seeded number three in the under-19 category. In the junior rankings list just published by the European Squash Federation for year-end 2007 Poleshchuk, aged 11, is ranked number one in the under-13 boys category. Cohen-Adiv is ranked six in the under-15 girls category and Avron is ranked 12 in the under-19 male category. The ESF ranking lists, which are based on points awarded for results in tournaments played, include players from countries outside Europe such as Egypt, which has the world best juniors, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan, USA and Canada, each of which has many top level junior squash players.