Colette Sultana is currently preparing for her next international tournaments. In September she will be taking part in the British Junior Grand Prix in Manchester. This will be followed by the Swiss Junior Open in December and leading to the Austrian Junior Open in March of next year.
Colette is 12 years old and is currently ranked 36th in Europe in the Under 13 Girls category. This ranking is in the wake of the remarkable top four finish achieved in the Austrian Junior Open last March.
This was Colette’s first ever international tournament abroad. To finish 4th Colette secured two excellent victories against two internationally experienced players namely the number 7th seed Katarina Baston of Finland, ranked 25 in Europe and then in the quarter finals against the tournament 4th seed and European number 13 Boglarka Nagy from Hungary.
Colette lost in the semi-final to Czech number 1 player and tournament top seed Michaela Hajkova who, being one year older than Colette, was physically too strong for her.
Colette won the 2007 Malta Junior Open (Boys and Girls Mixed Under 13) that was held in May.
Her next international tournament will be the British Junior Grand Prix that will take place in Manchester between 21 and 23 September. Although not a European ranking tournament, through participation in this event, Colette will gain valuable experience against strong top British junior players.
Britain is of course a leading squash venue in the world for both juniors and seniors. In fact, concurrent with the junior event, Manchester will also be hosting the men’s and ladies’ British Open.
Colette will therefore not only be gaining playing experience but she will also be able to watch the world’s top players in action. The British Open is regarded as the ‘Wimbledon’ of squash. Last year’s winner of the Ladies’ British Open is Nicol David ranked number 1 in the world.
In the final she beat Rachael Grinham ranked third. In the Men’s final, 8th seed in the world Nick Matthew won against world number 5 Thierry Lincou. Chris Stahl, who is number 2 in the world in the over 65 years category and who lives in Malta and plays regularly in the Maltese league, reached the final of the British Open in this category last year.
After Manchester, Colette will participate in two European ranking tournaments, the Swiss Junior Open that will take place in Zurich between 9 and 11 December and the Austrian Junior Open in Vienna between 9 and 11 March.
When she took part in the Austrian Open last March, Colette was only 11 years old and she was the second youngest player taking part, with most of the other players being a year older than her.
Next March she will still be young enough to take part once again in the Under 13 category but by then will have another year’s experience and will have developed significantly both technically and physically.
Colette’s preparation is being coordinated by Paul Lake, her personal coach. She is also attending Malta Squash Junior Coaching organised by Liz Said and Malta national team coaches Steve Rizzo and Ivan Balzan.
Before travelling to Manchester for the British Junior Grand Prix, Colette will be participating in a ten day training camp in Slovakia and Poland. The camp, which is being organised by Paul Lake, will involve intensive training and matches with a number of squash players from Malta, Slovakia, Poland and the UK.
Colette Sultana’s outstanding progress as a junior squash player is the result of a lot of work and support being offered by a number of people and organisations, including Paul Lake, Malta Squash, Malta Olympic Committee, Malta Sports Council, Malta International Airport, Marsa Sports Club, Wilson and many others including Colette’s training partners and mentors.
With the right financial backing Sultana has the potential to become a top European squash player for Malta also at senior level.