On December 6, Salma Hassan ’28 and Alyssa Ho ’25 traveled to White Oaks, Ontario, Canada, to compete in the Canadian Junior Open. The tournament featured over 750 matches and participants from over 15 countries. The girls did a remarkable job and represented Tabor in the best light!
Salma Hassan ’28 won first place in the Girls U17 category, making her the Canadian U17 Champion for the second year in a row. Alyssa Ho ’25 competed in the Girls U19 age category, securing second place.
Salma began playing squash in Egypt at 5 years old. Her father loved watching squash online and introduced her to the sport. From a young age, Salma faced challenges because of her height. However, she persisted due to her passion for the sport.
Salma said that she enjoys squash because you need to rely entirely on yourself. The results come from the hard work put into practice and then the match itself. Salma put in a lot of time to prepare for the Canadian Junior Open.
“I used every single minute I had to train and play. I was always in the gym,” said Salma.
Her pre-match routine consists of putting her AirPods in, remaining calm, and focusing all her attention on the upcoming match.
After her matches, to celebrate and release all the tension and energy she kept inside, Salma always screams “Yalla,” which means “let’s go” in Arabic.
Many people kept congratulating Salma on her excellent performance, but the highlight of the match was a 6-year-old boy who came onto the court and picked up the ball, asking Salma for an autograph.
Alyssa Ho ’25 has her own pre-match routine as well: She puts her headphones on and goes to the corner to meditate for about ten minutes before moving on to her warm-up. Alyssa is also superstitious, so she eats exactly four pink Starbursts before her match.
Alyssa says, “I like to listen to a podcast or meditate before matches; I also like to visualize how I want to play while I do this. It helps me clear my head, and it’s nice to drown out all the noise around me at tournaments.”
Her highlight was seeing a lot of the friends she has made at these competitions over the years. During the tournament, she saw a lot of familiar faces and close friends.
Alyssa won second place in the U19 category, and although she didn’t quite achieve the result she wanted, she was proud of herself for making it to the finals amidst college app season and the stress of senior year.
“Losing is tough, but I think of it as a great learning experience, and I’m grateful to have played such an exceptional player like Gladys. We’ve known each other for a while since we grew up in Hong Kong and trained together. Hopefully, next time we face each other, I can do even better!” says Alyssa.
This was not her first time competing in the Canadian Junior Open. At 14 years old, she won U15; at 15, she won U17; and she came second at 17 in U19–all of which are incredible achievements.
The Tabor Squash team is headed to another tournament this week: the US Junior Open. Alyssa Ho ’25, Luciana Castillo Bárcena ’25, Benjamin Kuo ’25, Seif El Gazzar ’27, Amaro Castillo Bárcena ’28, and Coaches Moronta and Downes will be at the tournament in Philadelphia from December 13-17.
We wish the squash team the best of luck in the upcoming tournament!