England Squash Hosts Festival of Squash At National Centre

A veritable Festival of Squash - bringing together a wide range of players from those embarking on the first rung of the competition ladder to those who have led England to European and World success - will be hosted by England Squash at the National Squash Centre in Manchester this Saturday.

The day will kick off with the Junior Champion of Champions Finals - the climax of the Junior Graded Tournament season where the winners of each grade (C, D, E, F) from every local event the length and breadth of the country will compete for the Junior Champion of Champions title.

The day's finale, starting at 5.30pm, will be the Premier League (PSL) final between Churchill Edgbaston Priory, winners of the title in 2001 and 2003, and Benz-Bavarian Duffield, the 1998 champions from Derbyshire celebrating their third appearance in the final.

More than 3500 young players between the ages of 8 and 15 have competed this season in 58 Junior tournaments across the country - and all the winners now come together for a fantastic celebration of junior grass roots squash.

"For the first time this year, the Junior Champion of Champions will preview the PSL Final - giving us a day that enables us to see the true pathway for squash, grass roots juniors through to World Class," said England Squash's Director of Development & Competitions Adrian Christy.

The local champions competing at the NSC include:

C GRADE: Alex Beynon (from Copdock in Suffolk), Dominic Cole (Nottingham), Marcus Hunter (Warwickshire), Alexander Johnson (Woodbridge, Suffolk), and Ryan Whiteley (West Sussex)

D GRADE: Jake Bennet (Bognor Regis, West Sussex), Mark Broude (Manchester), Joseph Buck (Worcestershire), Tom Dwyer (Manchester), Alex Morris (Gloucester), Tim Moseley (Bromsgrove, Worcs), Simon Rivers (Reigate, Surrey), Thomas Roden (Stoke on Trent), Matthew Turner (Wigan, Lancashire), Russell Clark (Dronfield, Derbyshire), and Joel Croucher (Pulborough, West Sussex)

E GRADE: Andrew Archibald (Chorley, Lancashire), Luke Bentley (Manchester), James Durbin (Leeds), Edward Fairhurst (Manchester), Jonathan Higham (Preston), Jack Lubke (Stourbridge, West Midlands), Jonathan Matthews (Chelmsford, Essex), Alex Noakes (Thame, Oxon), Eddy Rounthwaite (Malton, North Yorkshire), Frederick Simpson-Cassidy (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria), Thomas Turner (Sheffield), Harry Wildey (Preston) and Saska Drew.

F GRADE: Sumitha Bose (Ipswich, Suffolk), Martyn Brierley (Leyland, Lancashire), Richard Carter (Halesowen, Worcs), Hannah Crichton (Egremont, Cumbria), Nyall Croucher (Pulborough, West Sussex), Charlotte Durbin (Leeds), Christopher Fay (Manchester), David Fumpson (Liverpool), Joe Jackson (Preston), Jack Myers (Manchester), Patrick Rooney (St Helens, Merseyside), Gavin Waddell (West Midlands), Katie Wilson (Coulsdon, Surrey), Jack Cooper (Pontefract, West Yorkshire), Kristian Hornby (Sheffield) and Tom Lubke (Stourbridge, West Midlands).

Nick Matthew, the world No7 from Sheffield who made a valuable contribution to England's title successes in both the European Championships in April and the World Championships in Pakistan in December, will lead Duffield's second title bid at the NSC. He is expected to face Edgbaston Priory's Australian international Stewart Boswell in the final match of the tie - which pundits predict could be the decider!

Boswell's Priory team-mates include Devon's Hadrian Stiff and England internationals Adrian Grant, Peter Barker and Vicky Botwright, the Manchester-based world No5 who will be playing on her 'home' courts. Botwright is lined up against England team-mate Tania Bailey, the world No9 from Stamford in Lincolnshire who is the new England No1. Bailey's Duffield team-mates include Jonathan Kemp, Welshman Gavin Jones and Yorkshireman Laurence Delasaux.