Junior Squash ace primed for USA Junior Open

12 December 2016 – Kyle Kriel (17) one of the country’s top squash players, will be participating in the US Junior Squash Championships pencilled for 17 to 20 December.

This will be the first time, the country will be represented at the US Junior Squash Championships.

The US Junior Squash Championships will take place at Yale University, New Haven, USA and Media contact, Lindsay Kriel, said that this will be the junior’s first tournament outside of the Africa, where he will face top junior squash players from across the world.

According to Lindsay, the US open joins the Hong Kong and British Junior Open as one of the most anticipated events on the world junior squash calendar.

Linday said his participation is by invite by a squash coaching group based in South Africa, the Centurion Junior Squash (CJS) team.

Henk Knipe from the Namibia Squash Association said, “Kyle has a huge impact on Namibian Squash and is a benchmark and role model to many of our junior players”.

“I can still recall the days when Kyle used my garage as a squash court, when he was still the same length as a standard squash racquet,” remembers Kyle’s father Lindsay. He started going to the squash courts at the age of three and received his first formal coaching at the age of seven from the former national coach, John Lingashi.

According to Linday said the 17-year-old is currently busy with his final preparations in Cape Town, then he will progress to Johannesburg, South Africa, before he departs for the USA.

“He will travel earlier to USA and for roughly 10 days he will be at a sports clinic at Stanford University, where he will train in preparation for the tourney,” Linday said.

Currently Kriel is seeded number three in the county’s senior ranking in the country and Kyle is a pupil at Windhoek Gymnasium and currently a member of the Wanderers Squash Club in Windhoek.

Some of the highlights in Kyle’s squash career so far include, being selected to play for the u13 Namibian team in Bloemfontein at the age of 10, occupy the no. 1 spot of the Namibian u19 at the age of 16, selection to participate in the u19 All Africa Champs at the age of 15, making the men’s team to represent Namibia in the SACD tournament at the age of 16 and making the men’s team to represent Namibia in the Jarvis tournament (SA) at the age of 16.