Colette Sultana has achieved what is probably her best result ever in international competition for Malta. Competing in the Welsh Junior Open in the Under 15 girls category, Sultana won three matches and was only denied gold in the final by Shahd Tarek Mahmoud from Egypt, a country whose athletes are dominating world squash at both junior and senior level.
The tournament, which was held at the Welsh Institute of Sport and the Cardiff Squash Rackets Club, was strongly contested by nearly 200 players.
The Maltese junior champion did not have the ideal preparation for this tournament. She had to stop her training three weeks ago due to a muscle strain and, with the support of the Malta Olympic Committee, was undergoing intensive treatment in order to return to fitness in time for the Welsh Open.
In the first round match Sultana’s recovery was not really tested. She was drawn against Georgia Jones who was no match for the Maltese girl. She finished off the match in three quick games 11/2, 11/4, 11/2, to progress swiftly to the next round against another Welsh player, Alice Richards.
This second match was a completely different story and not for the faint-hearted. After losing the first two games closely 11/9, 12/10, Sultana had to really dig deep to save the match. With the third game tied at 10/10, the Maltese girl managed to recover from two match balls against her to finally take the game 16/14. From that point on she then overpowered Richards to win the next two games 11/5, 11/5.
In the semi-final, Sultana faced the top Welsh girl Jenny Haley in another extremely tough match. Colette just managed to clinch the first game 12/10. Haley came back strongly to win the second 11/6 but the Maltese girl bounced back to take the lead again and the third game 11/6. With both girls playing excellent squash and determined to make it to the coveted final, the fourth game was again close but it was Sultana who again finished on top 11/9 to end the match there.
In the duel for third and fourth place, Jenny Haley went on to beat tournament top-seed, Scottish girl Kirsty Lobban, in three straight games to claim bronze.
In the final Sultana was up against Shahd Tarek Mahmoud who had won all her previous matches with relative ease. Sultana played well and Tarek Mahmoud had to fight hard to win 11/9, 11/8, 11/5.
Silver in the Welsh Junior Open is a superb achievement for the Maltese junior champion. With this result, Sultana will collect the highest number of European ranking points that she has ever obtained. This will move her up to a top 15 position in Europe. The Maltese girl’s next ranking tournament will be the German Junior Open next month.
While in the UK, Sultana also had the opportunity to join a training session at Millfield School in Somerset. Millfield is a private school that has excellent sport facilities and caters for the world’s elite sport athletes.
The squash coaching team at Millfield is led by six-time former world champion Jonah Barrington. Some of the squash players currently attending the school include Marwan El Shorbagy, winner of the British Junior Open, Aditya Jagtap, winner of the Welsh Junior Open, and Daniel Poleschuk, runner-up at the Welsh Junior Open, who is at Millfield on a scholarship provided by the Israeli government.
Jonah Barrington told Sultana that a number of years ago, quite some time before she was even born, he had been to Malta and played squash at the Marsa Sports Club, Colette’s club.
Sultana is a member of the MOC Centre of Excellence and is receiving support through the MOC Youth Athlete Scheme, Malta Squash and the Marsa Sports Club. Colette is sponsored by Wilson and coached by Paul Lake.Emirates Junior Easter Open tournament at MSC