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Derbyshire squash player finishes ninth at British Junior Open

8 January 2008

Ashley was seeded 5/8 for the tournament, and was one of 48 players in the under-13 group.

As a whole the tournament, which took place in Sheffield between January 2 and 6, saw 460 players compete from 36 different countries.

Ashley had a bye in the 1st round, and beat the Canadian No 1 3-0 in the 2nd round.

In the 3rd round he was just out played by unknown Egyptian Saif Ashraf, losing 3-0, 27-11 and putting him into 16th place.

In the 4th round, the start of the play offs, he played his National Squad team mate and England No 4, beating him 3-1, and in the 5th round he played the Welsh No 1, and beat him 3-1.

Ashley was then left with one match to play, to gain 9th or 10th place. He played the England No 6, and Lincolnshire No 1, and lost the 1st game 8-10 before winning the next three, 9-4, 9-7, 9-0, to finish 9th overall in his 2nd British Junior Open.

The tournament saw the end of Ashley’s under-13 career as he is 13 on January 10 and moves up to play in the under-15s.

Last month Ashley was among the first 18 athletes to receive a bursary from the Derbyshire Talented Athlete Fund (opens in a new window).

His achievements in 2007 included winning a place in the National Squad, beating the U13 English No 1, Irish No 1, Welsh No 1, South African No 1 and Canadian No 1.

He finished 2nd in the England Squash National Rankings and No 5 in Europe, one place behind the Egyptian Osama Khalid Khalifa, who has just won the British Junior Open.

He is now being mentored by World No 5 Nick Matthew, and aims to be England No 1 at under-15, get into the under-15 National Team, and be in a position to take the under-15 title in two years time.