Salazar & Kumar Celebrate Hat-Tricks In Scottish Junior Open

Mexico's Arturo Salazar and Canada's Neha Kumar both staged upsets in their semi-finals before going on to win the U19 titles in the Jurys Inn Scottish Junior Open Championships at the Heriot-Watt National Squash Centre in Edinburgh.

Salazar, a 3/4 seed, was appearing in his third successive Scottish Junior Open final and, for the third time in a row, faced his 17-year-old twin brother Cesar Salazar in the climax. Arturo, winner of the U17 title in 2003 and 2004, made his men's U19 breakthrough after beating Canada's top seed David Glass in the semi-finals. He beat Cesar, a 5/8 seed, 9-4 9-0 9-2 in 44 minutes to lift his first U19 crown in Edinburgh.

Neha Kumar was celebrating her third title of the month after winning the Canadian Junior Open, then the US Junior Open, en-route to Scotland. The Canadian, a 3/4 seed, upset England's No2 seed Emma Chorley in the women's U19 semi-finals, then beat another English opponent Victoria Lust, a 5/8 seed, 9-5 3-9 10-8 9-5 in the 40-minute final.

In the U17 championships, the men's title went to Irish favourite Rory Byrne, who needed 60 minutes to overcome second-seeded Canadian David Letourneau 9-4 5-9 9-5 9-7. The women's final featured two unseeded opponents, with Hong Kong's Shin Nga Leung battling to a 9-4 10-8 9-2 triumph over India's Surbhi Misra.

Men's U19 Final:
[3/4] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt [5/8] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 9-4, 9-0, 9-2 (44m)

Women's U19 Final:
[3/4] Neha Kumar (CAN) bt [5/8] Victoria Lust (ENG) 9-5, 3-9, 10-8, 9-5 (40m)

Men's U17 Final:
[1] Rory Byrne (IRL) bt [2] David Letourneau (CAN) 9-4, 5-9, 9-5, 9-7 (60m)

Women's U17 Final:
Shin Nga Leung (HKG) bt Surbhi Misra (IND) 9-4, 10-8, 9-2 (27m)