With the Oceania Junior Championships starting today in Australia, here’s a recap of other Auckland players who have been in action at various international tournaments over the past month;

Matthew Lucente picked up a huge international tournament victory, winning the U19 division at the REDtone Kuala Lumpur Junior Open in December.  Seeded in the 9/16 bracket he defeated both the top two seeds on the way to his very impressive victory.  The tournament saw 790 players competing in 12 age categories – the largest tournament anywhere in Asia during 2017.

A number of Auckland Juniors also headed to the far reaches of the earth to test themselves against the best juniors in the world at the Canadian, US, and British Junior Opens. 

US Junior Open
Apa Fatialofa Jr - quarterfinals of the U13 Boys
Leo Fatialofa - 5^th in the U15 Boys
Diya Joukani -  Consolation Quarterfinals U19 Girls
Ella Lash - 18^th of 78 competitors in the U13 Girls
Anthony Lepper - Consolation 4^th round in the 128 draw U19 Boys

Canadian Junior Open
Apa Fatialofa Jr – 3^rd in U13 Boys
Leo Fatialofa – 3^rd in U15 Boys
Diya Joukani – 11^th in U19 Girls
Anthony Lepper – 49^th in U19 Boys

British Junior Open
Leo Fatialofa – 17^th out of 128 competitors U15 Boys
Apa Fatialofa – 70^th out of 128 U15 Boys (as an unseeded player)

Congratulations to all the players on all the hard work put into the trip, not only the training leading up to the tournaments but also having to fundraise large amounts to make the trip possible.

Good luck to all the New Zealand players competing in the Oceania Junior Championships starting today in Redcliffe, QLD.