Salazar & Kumar Celebrate Hat-Tricks In Scottish Junior Open

Mexico’s Arturo Salazar and Canada’s Neha Kumar both staged upsets in their semi-finals before going on to win the U19 titles in the Jurys Inn Scottish Junior Open Squash Championships at the Heriot-Watt National Squash Centre in Edinburgh.

Neha Kumar was celebrating her third title of the month after winning the Canadian Junior Open, then the US Junior Open, en-route to Scotland. The Canadian, a 3/4 seed, upset England’s No2 seed Emma Chorley in the women’s U19 semi-finals, then beat another English opponent Victoria Lust, a 5/8 seed, 9-5 3-9 10-8 9-5 in the 40-minute final. Kumar, who has just been accepted to Princeton University for fall of 2006, can be expected to make an immediate mark on the US College scene next year.

Salazar, a 3/4 seed, was appearing in his third successive Scottish Junior Open final and, for the third time in a row, faced his 17-year-old twin brother Cesar Salazar in the climax.  Arturo, winner of the U17 title in 2003 and 2004, made his men’s U19 breakthrough after beating Canada’s top seed David Glass in the semi-finals.  He beat Cesar, a 5/8 seed, 9-4 9-0 9-2 in 44 minutes to lift his first U19 crown in Edinburgh.

In the U17 championships, the men’s title went to Irish favourite Rory Byrne, who needed 60 minutes to overcome second-seeded Canadian David Letourneau 9-4 5-9 9-5 9-7.  The women’s final featured two unseeded opponents, with Hong Kong’s Shin Nga Leung battling to a 9-4 10-8 9-2 triumph over India’s Surbhi Misra.

RESULTS:         Jurys Inn Scottish Junior Open Squash Championships, Edinburgh, Scotland

Men's U19 quarter-finals:
[1] David Glass (CAN) bt [5/8] Greg McArthur (SCO)    7-9, 1-9, 9-4, 9-6, 9-5 (70m)
[3/4] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt Richard Birks (ENG)        9-2, 9-1, 9-0 (27m)
[9/16] Andrew McDougall (CAN) bt [9/16] Adam Bews (SCO)        9-5, 9-5, 9-2
[5/8] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [2] Max Lee (HKG)      5-9, 9-6, 7-9, 9-3, 9-3 (79m)
Semi-finals:
[3/4] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt [1] David Glass (CAN)              10-8, 9-5, 9-4
[5/8] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [9/16] Andrew McDougall (CAN) 7-9, 9-2, 9-4, 10-9 (75m)Final:
[3/4] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt [5/8] Cesar Salazar (MEX)      9-4, 9-0, 9-2 (44m)

Women's U19 quarter-finals:
[5/8] Victoria Lust (ENG) bt [1] Sarycarmen Diaz (MEX)      9-1, 9-5, 8-10, 9-7
[3/4] Alexandra Clark (SCO) bt [5/8] Gemma Davies (WAL)    2-9, 10-8, 9-2, 9-3
[3/4] Neha Kumar (CAN) bt [5/8] Mary-Ann Boden (RSA)   9-3, 9-7, 9-10, 9-10, 9-4 (51m)
[2] Emma Chorley (ENG) bt [5/8] Rachel Green (WAL)          9-2, 9-3, 9-4
Semi-finals:
[5/8] Victoria Lust (ENG) bt [3/4] Alexandra Clark (SCO)       9-5, 9-2, 9-7
[3/4] Neha Kumar (CAN) bt [2] Emma Chorley (ENG)             9-7, 9-3, 10-9
Final:
[3/4] Neha Kumar (CAN) bt [5/8] Victoria Lust (ENG)     9-5, 3-9, 10-8, 9-5 (40m)

Men's U17 quarter-finals:
[1] Rory Byrne (IRL) bt [5/8] Zac Alexander (AUS)      9-5, 9-2, 9-7
Ben Molyneux (ENG) bt [5/8] Tyler Hamilton (CAN)      9-3, 10-8, 9-7
[3/4] Carsten Schoor (GER) bt [5/8] Chris Callis (USA)      9-3, 6-9, 9-1, 9-3
[2] David Letourneau (CAN) bt [5/8] Rudi Willemse (RSA)    10-9, 9-3, 9-3   
Semi-finals:
[1] Rory Byrne (IRL) bt Ben Molyneux (ENG)      9-4, 9-2, 9-6
[2] David Letourneau (CAN) bt [3/4] Carsten Schoor (GER)       9-0, 9-7, 10-9
Final:
[1] Rory Byrne (IRL) bt [2] David Letourneau (CAN) 9-4, 5-9, 9-5, 9-7 (60m)

Women's U17 quarter-finals:
[1] Bethan Williams (WAL) bt Erika Dort (CAN)      8-10, 10-9, 9-3, 9-0
Surbhi Misra (IND) bt [3/4] Alushca Botha (RSA)       9-4, 9-3, 9-1
Shin Nga Leung (HKG) bt Alicia Rodriguez (IRL)        9-6, 10-8, 9-1
Dorothy Ko (HKG) bt [5/8] Jackie Moss (CAN)          9-4, 9-3, 9-3
Semi-finals:
Surbhi Misra (IND) bt [1] Bethan Williams (WAL)        9-5, 10-8, 9-5
Shin Nga Leung (HKG) bt Dorothy Ko (HKG)               9-6, 9-1, 9-6
Final:
Shin Nga Leung (HKG) bt Surbhi Misra (IND)    9-4, 10-8, 9-2 (27m)