A SOLIHULL teenager claimed silver at the 2025 Squash British Junior Open (BJO) in Birmingham.
Ali Khalil was pipped to victory by Vivaan Mehta – the second ever American winner of a boys’ title at the BJO – who claimed a five-game victory.
In an undulating contest, Khalil hit back to lead 2/1 after losing the first game on a tiebreak. But Mehta’s intricate, wristy front court play was crucial to him taking the last two games to wrap up a 15-13, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4 victory.
The result mirrored the pair’s recent semi-final at the US Junior Open in Philadelphia just before Christmas which the California native also won in five.
Khalil, who trains at West Warwick’s Club with coach Rob Owen and last year’s BJO U19 finalist Jonah Bryant, was elevated to no.1 seed in the Boys Under-15 draw following the withdrawal of USA’s Carlton Capella earlier in the competition.
Speaking after the earlier rounds Khalil, who was England’s only representative on finals day, said: “It feels good to be top seed. There’s a little bit of pressure, but I need to keep that out of my head and concentrate on playing my squash. It would be great to add the British Junior Open title to the British Closed and English titles I won last year.”
The opening day of the BJO saw 777 players descend on the University of Birmingham Sport and Fitness and nearby clubs Edgbaston Priory, Solihull Arden, West Warwickshire Sports Complex and Sutton Coldfield.
A total of 10 trophies in 10 age categories were up for grabs at the championship.
