Top Juniors Return To Manchester For British U19/U15 Nationals

Just five days after the climax of the British National Championships at the National Squash Centre in Manchester, top level squash returns to the Sportcity complex from 18-20 February with the staging of the 2005 British Under 19/Under 15 Championships.

Hampshire's Chris Simpson and Sussex's Rachel Willmott are favourites to win the U19 titles. Brighton-based Simpson, twice an U17 champion, is seeded to meet Leicestershire's James Wright, the second seed, in Sunday's final. Victory would be revenge for Simpson, who lost to Leicester-born Wright at the event's semi-final stage last year.

Yorkshire's Shaun le Roux is the No3 seed, while Surrey's Tom Richards is the fourth seed. Woking-based Richards, a surprise British Junior Open semi-finalist at the beginning of the year, extended Simpson to five games in last year's quarter-finals in Nottingham.

Rachel Willmott, the 16-year-old from Horsham who has won six National junior titles, including U12, U13, U15 and U17 trophies, narrowly failed to make last year's semi-finals after losing an 85-minute five-game marathon. Seeded to meet county colleague Jenna Gates in the final, Rachel is likely to meet either third seed Susannah King (Hampshire) or fourth seed Deon Saffery (Yorkshire) in the semi-finals.

In the women's U15 event, Natalie Pritchard, from Wales, is seeded to retain the title she won last year. Her final opponent is expected to be second seed Jane Allman, from Surrey. Somerset's Natalie Coombs is seeded three, while local star Emma Molyneux (Cheshire) is the fourth seed.

The favourites for the men's U15 title is Sam Wileman, the 14-year-old from Yorkshire who is expected to meet Surrey's Alex Ingham in the final. Third seed is Chris Fuller (Northants) and Cheshire's Adam Murrills is the fourth seed.