Britain's Top Juniors Head To Manchester For British Under 19/15 Championships

After hosting the cream of the Britain's senior squash talent at the British National Championships last week, the National Squash Centre in Manchester will open its doors this weekend to 170 of the country's top juniors for the British Under 19/15 Championships, from 23-25 February.

Sussex's Rachel Willmott will be defending the Girls' Under 19 title that she won at Bishop's Stortford twelve months ago. The 18-year-old No1 seed from Horsham will be hoping to claim her eighth National title to finish her junior career on a high. Rachel's main rivals are expected to be Victoria Bell, the reigning Under 17 champion and No2 seed from Cumbria; and 3/4 seeds Victoria Lust (Bedfordshire) and Sarah-Jane Perry (Warwickshire).

The Boys' Under 19 championship is expected to be highly competitive with three National title winners amongst the top four seeds. Tom Pashley, the 2003 U15 champion from Sussex, starts as favourite, and is expected to meet Home Counties rival Joe Lee, the 2005 U17 champion from Surrey, in Sunday's final. Stiff competition is also likely to come from 3/4 seeds Adrian Waller and Lewis Walters, from Hertfordshire and Nottinghamshire, respectively.

Former British Under 13 champion Millie Tomlinson, from Derbyshire, will start as red hot favourite in the Girls' Under 15's as she looks to continue her dominance of her age group. Surrey's Harriet Ingham is seeded to meet Millie in the final in what would be a repeat of the Under 13 final of 2005.

The Boys Under 15 category looks to be wide open with a good number of potential winners. Defending champion James Earles is seeded to win his third National junior title in a row. The 14-year-old from Yorkshire, who won the U13 crown in 2005, has earned the right to be top seed but has not had it all his own way recently. Surrey's second seed Nicholas Hopcroft, together with 3/4 seeds Robert Downer (Hampshire) and Philip Waller (Hertfordshire), will all be looking to take advantage.

The Championships involve a heavy schedule with matches running from 9.00am on Friday 23 February with the finals scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday 25 February. Any visiting spectators will be welcomed free of charge.