DENIS IS SQUASH HERO
Twelve-year-old from Bray is first EVER Irish player to win the British Junior Open!
DENIS Gilevskiy (12) made history last Friday, claiming the under-13 British Open squash title. This was the first time an Irish player took the title since the games began in the 1920s.
The British Junior Squash Open is the world’s largest and most prestigious junior squash tournament.
BRAY BOY Denis Gilevskiy from Clover Hill made history last week, claiming the under-13 British Open squash title. This was the first time an Irish player took the title since the games began in the 1920s.
The British Junior Squash Open is the world’s largest and most prestigious junior squash tournament.
Denis (12), a first year at Pres Bray, defeated English opponent Sam Osborne Wylde last Friday ‘in emphatic style showing great maturity and skill to dominate the match’, according to Squash Ireland.
His dad Dmitry said that the whole family is delighted. He said that while Denis has been number one in Europe for some time, this is considered the equivalent of a ‘World Cup’ title.
Denis’ older brother Nikita is currently studying computer science at Cornell University in the USA on a squash scholarship, and has taken prestigious titles of his own on a global level.
What of the future for Denis? ‘It’s too early to say,’ said Dmitry. ‘Maybe he would like to go professional but he is just 12.’
Dmitri said that he plays squash socially. ‘I came from Russia where squash is not very popular. We saw people play in Leopardstown and got interested.’ Their sons also became interested and turned out to be extremely talented.
Dmitri and the boys’ mother Elena ensure that Denis gets to training each day at Mount Pleasant in Dublin.
Denis is also a national champion in athletics. He won the U12 600 metres in Tullamore this summer.
This is the first time his success has attracted so much media attention. His parents were surprised and proud that he is so comfortable giving interviews on the television and radio.
As there is no official World Championship at this age, the British Junior Open is the unofficial World Championship, with all the best players in the world playing in it.
And Denis is the only winner from Europe, with all the other seven British Open titles going to Asia.
Denis claimed the title in just 20 minutes last week in front of a packed crowd in Sheffield. This was the result of four days of competition in the UK.
He won’t have time to rest on his laurels, as Denis will be representing Leinster at the Junior Inter- County Championship finals this month.
‘I never thought it was going to be such a long journey for me to actually win it from the first day to the last,’ he told RTE news after the great victory.
Denis, who has been playing squash since the age of six, has won five national championships this season.