British Junior Champion Logan Willstrop following in father’s footsteps
Pontefract Squash Club youngster Logan Willstrop is proving a chip off the old block after following in the footsteps of his famous father by becoming a national squash champion.
The son of former world number one and Commonwealth Games champion James produced a series of outstanding performances to triumph in the British Junior Championships in Sheffield.
In Sunday’s boys under 13s final second seed Logan was up against top seed Ben Lamond, from Dorset, and was a convincing winner in straight games – 11-6, 11-4, 11-6.
In winning the title he emulated the achievement of his father James, who was an eight-time former winner of British Junior titles before going on to his illustrious professional career, which including becoming England’s all-time record appearance maker.
Logan’s younger brother Bram also took part in the British Junior Championships and came close to making it a family double as he reached the semi-finals in the under 9s section. He brought home a bronze medal in an event won by Cristian Law (Hertfordshire) who defeated Luke Woodward (Hampshire) 11-3, 11-3, 12-10 in the final.
The next big target for Logan will now be the Alpha Bravo Construction British Junior Open, which is set to take place from January 2 to 6.
This tournament will be especially momentous, marking the 100th anniversary of the most prestigious event in worldwide junior squash.
With over 700 players from more than 50 countries, the British Junior Open continues to be a proving ground for the next generation of squash stars. Many of today’s elite professionals first came to prominence here, including Egypt’s Nour ElSherbini, the world number two and England’s Mohamed ElShorbagy, former World Champion.
Logan will also be hoping to take part in the English Junior Championships to be held in Nottingham on February 7 and 8.
Pontefract Squash Club’s senior teams had a break from their exploits in the Yorkshire Premier League this week, but the first team hoped to have star player Sam Todd back to lead them in their game against title rivals Doncaster as well as the return of Cumbrian champion Ben Hetherington.
Before the break Pontefract 1 sat 17 points clear the top of the table with Pontefract 2 also making an encouraging start after promotion to the top division, in fifth place.