Daniel Poleshchuk climbed to the top of the Under 15 world rankings after finishing third at the British Junior Open.

Playing his last competition in his age group, Poleshchuk was one of two Israelis in the Under 15 competition. Seeded five out of eight, he featured in a high quality field with the first four seedings going to Egyptian players.

Having dispatched the third seed in the quarter-finals, Poleshchuk went on to take the bronze, achieving the best performance ever by an Israeli squash player and the highest placed European in his age category.

Meanwhile, Roee Avraham found himself in the midst of a minor diplomatic spat. Whilst warming up on court with his opponent, the Kuwaiti Hussain Hussain, the Kuwaiti coach entered the court, muttered something in his player's ear, ushering him off the court, citing a pulled muscle as the excuse.

Readers of the JC will doubtlessly be relieved to hear that young Hussein Hussein made a miraculous recovery to play the next day.

Avraham, the No. 1 ranked Under 17 in Israel, did not allow this minor incident to divert his attention from the job at hand and eventually ran out in 20th place out of a field of 64 players.

Both Daniel and Roee were warmly hosted by the Sheffield Jewish community.