Englands Ali Khalil shrugged off the pressure of being promoted to top seed by recording a rapid victory on day one of the 2025 British Junior Open in Birmingham.

Local boy Khalil was elevated to no.1 seed in the BU15 draw following the withdrawal of USAs Carlton Capella. He duly dispatched Theodor Song of Canada for the loss of just five points to set up a round two match with [17/32] Elshin Arita of Japan on Friday morning.

Khalil, who trains at West Warwicks Club with coach Rob Owen and last years BJO U19 finalist Jonah Bryant, said: It feels good to be top seed. Theres a little bit of pressure, but I need to keep that out of my head and concentrate on playing my squash. It would be great to add the British Junior Open title to the British Closed and English titles I won last year.

The opening day of the iconic platinum event saw 777 players descend on the University of Birmingham Sport and Fitness and nearby clubs Edgbaston Priory, Solihull Arden, West Warwickshire Sports Complex and Sutton Coldfield. Trophies in 10 age categories are up for grabs with the finals taking place on Monday 6 January.

BU19 top seed Harith Danial Jefri was given a tough opening workout on the University of Birmingham Sport all-glass showcourt. The Malaysian had to dig deep against Mexicos Luis Mendez in their first-round clash before recording a 13-11 11-9 12-10 victory.

Elsewhere in the BU19 draw, there were wins for [2] Youssef Salem of Egypt and 3/4 seeds Low Wa-Sern of Malaysia and Englands Abdallah Eissa. Meanwhile, the top two GU19 seeds, Janna Gala and Nadien ElHammamy of Egypt, both negotiated their opening tests, but 9/16 seeds Anrie Goh and Eliza Schuster of the USA and Ka Huen Leung of Hong Kong fell to lower seeds.

Results in the BU17 draw went with the seedings, with title favourite Adam Hawal vaulting his first hurdle in the form of Englands [33/64] Damian Duckett in straight games. Second seed Amir Khaled-Jousselin is bidding to become Frances first BJO boys title winner since Gregory Gaultier in 2001 and he started with victory over Englands George Barker in three.

There was serene progress in the GU17 for Indian top seed Anahat Singh, who is bidding for a third BJO title. The 16-year-old breezed past Frances Sarah Guyot and Englands [33/64] Fearne Copley in rapid fashion. Second seed Malika El Karaksy is also into round three and there was a good win for Englands 9/16 seed Emily Coulcher-Porter over Pakistans [17/32] Mehwish Ali.

In the GU15, top seed Rama El Naggar encountered few challenges in her round two assignment with Hong Kongs [17/32] Ka Yau Chung, while her compatriot [2] Habiba Rizk also cruised through in three. Englands 5/8 seed Ameerah Ismail is also into round three but only via a gruelling 8-11 11-9 10-12 13-11 11-8 scoreline against Hong Kongs Jayna [17/32] Lim Woon Yue.

The top four seeds remained intact in the first two rounds of the BU13, although there was a surprise defeat for USAs 5/8 seed Armaan Burhan to Sami Alrajhi of Guatemala. Englands 17/32 seeds Logan Willstrop and Noah Selby (sons of former England internationals James Willstrop and Daryl Selby) both lost to Egyptian seeds. Oscar Brown [9/16] of Leicestershire made it through to round three where he faces 5/8 Yahia Waleed Rayan of Egypt, but Oscars twin brother Finley [17/32] lost to USAs [9/16] Wayne Isaac Wilson.

All four top seeds in the GU13 are from Egypt and all made it safely into round two, however Englands 9/16 seed Nadiya Ismail went down in straight games to Alice Huang, who currently tops the USAs GU13 rankings.

There were no shocks to speak of in the BU11 category where top seed Anas Tawfik of Egypt coasted through to round two in straight games and [9/16] James Swinden of Yorkshire also won in three to set up a clash with [3/4] Nik Izz Dameer Norifaizal of Malaysia on Friday morning. The GU11 first round begins on Friday morning at Edgbaston Priory Club.

Watch the championships live and for free on the official website.