Selby and Willstrop are two eye-opening home entry surnames at this year’s British Junior Open.

Twenty one years after his father James won the under-19 title of the prestigious event, young Logan Willstop is in the boys’ under-11 draw in Birmingham. Meanwhile, Daryl Selby’s son Noah is also in the same category.

They are two of a raft of storylines for the first BJO to be held since 2020. The Jan 4-8 event will welcome over 670 players across five categories as the year in junior squash starts with a bang.

Elswhere, current world junior champions Amina Orfi, of Egypt, and the Netherlands’ rising star Rowan Damming headline the under-19 girls and boys draw.

An all-Egyptian girls under-19 final could be in the offing, with Orfi, a three-time BJO champion, slated to meet world No.47 Fayrouz Aboelokheir, a former BJO GU15 champion, in the final.

Former BJO champion Nickleswar Mogansundraham, of Malaysia, is favourite in the boys under-15 event.

Meanwhile, Anahat Singh, who represented India at the Commonwealth Games at the tender age of 14, is on course for a second BJO girls’ title as under-15 top seed.

Back to the under-11 draws, Egyptians Hazem Sarwat and Talia Sherif are seen as favourites to lift the boys and girls titles respectively.

Of course it is early days but just seeing the young names associated with past English greats in the BJOs draws is a welcome one.