Rising Sussex star is runner-up in British Junior Squash Open

The Shoreham star upset the odds to the reach the final, beating top seed and World Junior champion Rowan Damming from the Netherlands in the last four.

The semi-final win of 11-13, 15-13, 11-9, 11-9, which lasted an hour, was the third match in a row where Bryant had beaten a higher-seeded player.

In the quarter final Bryant overcame recent US Junior Open winner Juan Jose Torres 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, having beaten Egypt’s Mohamed Zakaria 7-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 in the last 16.

Bryant’s other wins came against Japan’s Yujin Ikeda (11-6, 11-9, 11-9) in his opening match, and Jacob Lin of Canada in four games (11-7, 7-11, 11-2, 15-13) in round three.

The final, against No2 seed Finnlay Withington, was a repeat of the British Junior Championship final in October but despite performing well and forcing a number of long rallies, Bryant fell just short of the title, losing to Withington 2-11, 4-11, 8-11.

Neverthless, finishing runner-up at what is widely considered the world’s most important international tournament for young players was a considerable achievement for Bryant.

Torrie Malik, the current British Junior Championships title holder from Haywards Heath, reached the quarter-finals of the under-19 girls competition, losing to Malak Khafagy (10-12, 4-11, 9-11), while her brothers Heston and Bailey Malik both reached the last 16 of the under-17 boys competition.