Historic! Pakistan’s Squash Players Win Five Medals at the 2025 Australia Junior Open
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has revived its squash talent, as its rising stars made a thunderous return from the Australian Junior Open 2025 with a gold medal haul of four, with one silver testament to the country’s hard work.
The event was historic in itself and with the Ali sisters Mahnoor (U13) and Mehwish (U17) both successfully defending their titles on either side. With their dominance and also having victories coming from Azan Ali Khan (U17) and Ahmad Ali Naz (U11), Pakistan topped the bill in elite stage of junior squash. In the conclusion of the U15 girls’ championship, Sehrish Ali settled for silver to claim the fifth medal.
Title Defenses & New Champions
Confident and classy both Mahnoor and Mehwish successfully managed to defend their titles. The dominance of Mahnoor was obvious as she put Riyo Kawabate down 11–2, 11–5, 11–6, winning in a complete manner, while Mehwish (1), a seeded number one, ended Eden-Alma Poulava’s resistance 11–5, 11–5, 11–7.
The other Ali sister, Sehrish, gave the Ali sisters a third U15 final, albeit against top seed Emily Senior, in a hard fought battle that went to five sets before Sehrish lost 15 13, 5 11, 12 10, 6 11, 4 11.
Ahmad Ali Naz produced some clever play along with good court sense, while also claiming U11 gold on the boys’ side as he’d beat Freddie Goldsmith 11-5, 2-11, 6-11, 6-11. While Azan Ali Khan triumphed to win the U17 boys’ final in some impressive high skill, high strategy, high pressure play, similarly beating Aiden Finlay-Mulligen 11 8, 11 2, 11 4.
A Beacon of Hope for Pakistan Squash
With its storied history in squash, Pakistan is a nation that has struggled in recent decades and so this wave of success brings much new optimism. The Australian Junior Open 2025 has seen a brilliant showing by the nation, not just in terms of raw talent, but also in a commitment to a resurgence to the top tiers globally on the sport scene.
At the same time, with these exciting young stars setting the pace, Pakistan could well be on the way to becoming a squash hotbed once again.
