Oriol Sàlvia Ripoll and Renske Huntelaar tuned up for the upcoming World Junior Championships in perfect fashion by lifting the U19 trophies at the 2026 European Junior Open in Hamburg on Sunday.
Dutchwoman Huntelaar sealed back-to-back European junior circuit trophies by winning a tough encounter against fellow 3/4 seed Maya Mandour of Egypt 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 11-4. The 17-year-old also won gold at the Dutch Junior Open in Amsterdam last weekend.
Spain’s BU19 top seed Sàlvia Ripoll said his 11-7, 13-11, 12-10 victory over close friend [2] Elad Robenshtok of Israel in the final was his “biggest tournament win ever.”
The European no.4 also said he was “feeling 110% now” after a recent hamstring injury. He added: “I trained very hard to win this tournament. It was a great final and I hope everyone enjoyed it.”
Ahead of his next assignment, the World Junior Championships in Niagara-on-the-Lake which begins on July 20, Sàlvia Ripoll said: “I’m looking forward to it. I want to see what I’m capable of doing and show where I’m from.”
GU19 champion Huntelaar is also heading to Canada, and she couldn’t have prepared any better with ESF Gold and Platinum victories in successive weekends.
After defeating English top seed Reka Kemecsei in the semis, Huntelaar had to hold her nerve in the final after surrendering a two-game lead to Mandour.
“My body was very sore from last week [at the Dutch Junior Open] so this week was tough and mentally challenging,” she said.
“In the final, my focus went down a bit in the third and fourth games and she was hitting the targets better and playing smarter. I had to fight back. I managed to stay positive and fight for it in the fifth game.”
Huntelaar is seeded 17/32 at the World Junior Championships but says her ambition is to make the top eight. “I want to stay humble and don’t want to put any pressure on myself,” she smiled. “I will just go there and play my best game.”
European Junior Open — younger age categories round-up
Top seed Juan Pablo Niño Roa of Colombia, who won bronze last weekend in Amsterdam, stepped up to the top of the podium here with an heroic comeback against England’s Luke McBride in the BU17 final. Roa won 4-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 in 63 minutes.
China’s recent Asian junior champion, second seed Ziyuan Yin, was playing up an age group and was defeated by [5/8] Ching Sum Tang of Hong Kong 9-11, 11-6 12-10, 11-6 in the GU17 final.
In an all-Egyptian contest, top seed Mohammed Ihab beat [2] Malek Ahmed 11-6, 11-9, 12-10 in the BU15 final, sailing through every round in straight games.
The GU15 final was a lot tighter, with USA’s 5/8 seed Hana Elbaz coming out on top in a see-saw 7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-2, 11-9 contest against Ukraine’s [3/4] Victoria Syvoplyas.
At the start of the day, [2] Alex Kosztyu of Hungary earned his third BU13 title of 2026 on the European circuit by defeating top seed Ahmed Elsherif of Egypt 11-4, 11-9, 11-6.
India’s Divyanshi Jain was another player to add European Junior Open gold to last week’s Dutch Junior Open as she conquered [5/8] Talia Eslam 12-10 11-9 11-2. Jain went through every round without dropping a game.
Re-watch all Sunday’s finals from Sportwerk Hamburg on European Squash TV
Check out all the results from the 2026 European Junior Open
