Luxembourg Junior Open 2025;
Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu
From Friday 2 to Sunday 4 May 2025, the Luxembourg Junior Open 2025 squash tournament took place at CK Sportcenter in Kockelscheuer.
The tournament brought together 85 players from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Papua New Guinea, Malta, Poland, Ireland, France, Turkey, Monaco, England, Romania and Luxembourg, competing across five age categories: Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19. Boys and girls competed in separate divisions.
Karolina Mazur, a member of the organising committee of the Luxembourg Junior Open, told Chronicle.lu about the tournament: “Luxembourg Junior Open is a cyclical annual tournament, hopefully, which we restarted in 2024 for the first time after Covid. And it's a tournament organised by partially the Luxembourgish Federation of Squash, partially by volunteers, a small group actually. And we do it within the framework of the European Squash Federation circuit of tournaments. […] And participants get points in the European ranking for their matches, for their performance.” She added: “This is the main international tournament for junior players and only international tournament [in Luxembourg], which we always do in the beginning of May.”*
The Under-11 boys’ category had the highest number of participants, with fifteen players competing. France’s Esteban Muller claimed the title after defeating Egypt’s Mazen Merdan in the final in four sets (11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9). In the girls’ category, another French player, Lise Da Costa Meixedo, secured victory.
In the Under-13 category, Germany’s Mats Oliver Efken emerged as the boys’ winner, overcoming Ireland’s Ailong Chen in straight sets (11-4, 11-5, 11-4). Among the girls, Line Hendrickx from Belgium took the top spot.
Belgium’s Clément Lebrun won the boys’ Under-15 title, beating Germany’s Robin Thornton 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 in the final. England’s Aditi Rao dominated the girls’ final, defeating Germany’s Lea Sophie Gsell in straight sets (11-9, 11-7, 11-5).
Another win for France came in the boys’ Under-17 category, where Ethan Lecordier triumphed over Belgium’s Corentin Boniver in a five-set match (8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 3-11, 11-5). In the girls’ competition, Hana Al Nayal from the Netherlands secured first place after defeating Luxembourg’s Bianca Bidoli 11-2, 11-5, 12-10 — the highest placement for a local player at the 2025 edition of the Luxembourg Junior Open.
The oldest age category, Under-19, featured only boys. The final was an all-French encounter, with Amir Khaled-Jousselin overcoming Thomas Garcia 11-2, 11-4, 11-6
Speaking to Chronicle.lu after the medal ceremony, the winner, Amir Khaled-Jousselin, shared his reaction: “I’m very happy to win this competition. I was training here two years ago with a coach, so it’s a different feeling. I know this court very well, so I’m very happy to win here. It’s close to my house, so I’m happy to do this tournament and win it. I am also happy to play my friend in the final. We won the Europeans together, and it’s cool to see each other after that.”
*Updated to clarify that the Luxembourg Junior Open is the only international tournament specifically for juniors. Other international squash tournaments take place in Luxembourg.
