11 Apr Kijan Sultana Wins Croatian Junior Open
Kijan Sultana has won the Croatian Junior Open that was held in Zagreb over the weekend. The 12-year old was taking part in the Under 13 Boys competition.
After beating Nataniel Hernas from Poland 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 in the quarter-finals, Sultana was then matched against Hungarian #1 player Martin Mannheim. The Maltese junior played very well to once again win in straight games 11-7, 11-4, 11-6.
Kijan started strong in the final against Finlay Martin to take the first two games 11-5, 11-6. The Scottish player fought back hard to clinch the third game 16-14. But Sultana remained composed and performed brilliantly to win next game 11-3, thereby claiming his first European Junior Circuit tournament.
This great success follows the superb second place result he achieved in the Austrian Junior Open in February and the Under 17 Malta Open title win earlier this month.
Sultana is currently #15 in the Under 13 Boys European Squash Federation rankings and this result will elevate him to a top 10 position.
Kijan Sultana’s squash development is being nurtured by Malta’s squash professional Bradley Hindle Deguara with assistance from Christer Gustafsson at the National Sport School. The school’s excellent set-up has helped Kijan tremendously with his progress.
He is supported by the Malta Olympic Committee, Sports Malta and Malta Squash.