Dubai: Teenage star Maaz Khatri is hoping his experience at this month’s 2016 US Junior Open Squash Championships will help him achieve his sporting goals for the future.
Khatri, a long-time resident of Dubai who won the Australian Junior Championship (AJC) in September this year, is scheduled to leave for the US on Wednesday, December 7 for one of the most gruelling junior competitions in the world.
The U17 category for boys has a full field of 128 entrants and Khatri is one of them — brimming with confidence as he attempts to tackle the competition being held at Yale University in New Haven from December 17-20.
“At this stage of my career my emphasis is getting the experience at the topmost level of squash. The US Open is one of the major tournaments and I would ideally love to go out there and see where I stand among some of the best players in my age group,” Khatri told Gulf News.
“There is nothing fancy that I have done going into this competition. I have been focused and serious, putting in at least three hours of training on the court with my coach [Abbas Khan]. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I just want to go there and see how far I can go,” he added.
Khatri has been a Dubai resident for the past few years. He has been a regular at top junior competitions in his native Australia. His last sojourn in September ended with the U17 title for the 16-year-old at the AJC held at the Thornleigh Squash Centre in New South Wales. Before that, he had claimed the U17 crown at the Australian Junior Squash Open held in Davenport, Tasmania.
“Most of my tournaments have been in Australia. And even though the competition is tough I feel I need to venture out of my comfort zone and see how much I can push myself,” Khatri said.
The 2016 US Junior Open Squash Championships will be held in five age categories starting from U11s right up to the U19s in both boys and girls divisions.
