British Junior Open Boasts Record Entry

A record 475 players from 31 countries will compete in the 2006 Powerplaysports British Junior Open which get underway in Sheffield tomorrow.

Egypt, fielding a formidable squad of 65 players, are seeded to claim all but one of the titles - with world junior champion Ramy Ashour favourite to lift the men's U19 trophy, and Raneem El Weleily, the reigning women's world junior champion who celebrates her 17th birthday today, expected to secure her sixth successive British Junior Open crown, but the first at Under 19.

While Pakistan are expected to be represented in three of the finals, and France's Camille Serme seeded to win the women's U17 crown, domestic prospects are slim - with only two players seeded to fly English flags in the semi-finals: Chris Simpson, the European Junior Champion from Brighton, is a 3/4 seed in the men's U19 championship and Rachel Willmott, a six-times national junior champion from Horsham in Sussex, is a 3/4 seed in the women's U19 event.

Former British Under 17 holder Deon Saffery and Fiona Moverley - both from Yorkshire - will be hoping to make an impression in the women's Under 19 event as 5/8 seeds.

The British Junior Open Squash Championships - with roots back in the early 1920s - are regarded as the most prestigious junior championships in the world, boasting U19, U17, U15 and U13 events for men and women.

The 2006 Powerplaysports Championships will take place at Hallamshire and Abbeydale Park Squash Clubs in Sheffield, Yorkshire, from 2-6 January - with the finals being held at Abbeydale on the club's recently-installed all-glass show court.