Top Egyptian junior Marwan Tarek says he is “fired up” to win a hat-trick of Dunlop British Junior Open (BJO) titles after watching the Elshorbagy brothers compete for the senior AJ Bell PSA Men's World Championship title last month.
Tarek will aim to carry on Egypt's winning run in the UK with success in the boys' under-19 event at the prestigious British Junior Open, which begins in Birmingham on Wednesday. The tournament will be screened live on SQUASHTV with coverage available free to digital subscribers around the world.
Tarek, who has already
won the under-15 and under-17 crowns, will be one of 650 juniors from
over 30 nations in action until Sunday across four venues. The finals
take place at the 500-capacity University of Birmingham.
The 17-year-old World Junior Champion is top seed and admits he has been given extra motivation following the first ever male siblings world final last month in Manchester when Mohamed Elshorbagy beat Marwan, his younger brother.
He said: “Nobody predicted what Marwan did with the two upsets to set up a decider with his brother, so of course the story fired me up watching the Egyptians dominating the whole tournament.”
Tarek and French rival Victor Crouin, the World Junior runner-up, are seeded to meet in the BJO final and the young Egyptian hopes that the pair will continue to play on the big stage in years to come.
“Victor is a very unique player,” added Tarek. “I respect him a lot and I always look forward to playing him. I think, yes, there’s going to be a big rivalry as we have set up very strong matches since we were 12 when I played him in my first ever BJO back in 2012.
“The rivalry is only on court as we’re very good friends off court and that’s what so special about our sport. But it would be a dream come true to win three titles in Birmingham.”
Tarek is one of seven Egyptian top seeds chasing titles across the 10 boys and girls' events this week, with an under-11 age category added for the first time this year.
Meanwhile Marina Stefanoni, of the US, is top seed in the girls' under-17 and will be hoping to start 2018 in similar fashion to how she ended the year.
The 15-year-old from Connecticut won the US Junior Open in December – belying her years to lift the under-19 title in New Haven.
Stefanoni said: “It would be an amazing achievement to play well and win the British girls. To win two titles just a few weeks either side of each other would be brilliant.”
The American's dream is likely to come under threat from Malaysia's second seed Aifa Azman, who is bidding for a BJO hat-trick after winning the under-13 and under-15 titles.
English hopes will be spearheaded by Sam Todd who is top seed in the boys' under-15 competition.
The Dunlop British Junior Open will be the first major sporting event to be hosted in Birmingham since the city was awarded the 2022 Commonwealth Games last month. The University of Birmingham will host squash and hockey in four years' time.
The 17-year-old World Junior Champion is top seed and admits he has been given extra motivation following the first ever male siblings world final last month in Manchester when Mohamed Elshorbagy beat Marwan, his younger brother.
He said: “Nobody predicted what Marwan did with the two upsets to set up a decider with his brother, so of course the story fired me up watching the Egyptians dominating the whole tournament.”
Tarek and French rival Victor Crouin, the World Junior runner-up, are seeded to meet in the BJO final and the young Egyptian hopes that the pair will continue to play on the big stage in years to come.
“Victor is a very unique player,” added Tarek. “I respect him a lot and I always look forward to playing him. I think, yes, there’s going to be a big rivalry as we have set up very strong matches since we were 12 when I played him in my first ever BJO back in 2012.
“The rivalry is only on court as we’re very good friends off court and that’s what so special about our sport. But it would be a dream come true to win three titles in Birmingham.”
Tarek is one of seven Egyptian top seeds chasing titles across the 10 boys and girls' events this week, with an under-11 age category added for the first time this year.
Meanwhile Marina Stefanoni, of the US, is top seed in the girls' under-17 and will be hoping to start 2018 in similar fashion to how she ended the year.
The 15-year-old from Connecticut won the US Junior Open in December – belying her years to lift the under-19 title in New Haven.
Stefanoni said: “It would be an amazing achievement to play well and win the British girls. To win two titles just a few weeks either side of each other would be brilliant.”
The American's dream is likely to come under threat from Malaysia's second seed Aifa Azman, who is bidding for a BJO hat-trick after winning the under-13 and under-15 titles.
English hopes will be spearheaded by Sam Todd who is top seed in the boys' under-15 competition.
The Dunlop British Junior Open will be the first major sporting event to be hosted in Birmingham since the city was awarded the 2022 Commonwealth Games last month. The University of Birmingham will host squash and hockey in four years' time.
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