Northland squash teen Freddie Jameson wins bronze at Canada Junior Open

Northland's Freddie Jameson, 16, poses with his bronze medal at the Canadian Junior Open in Ontario earlier this week. Photo / Supplied

Manaia Squash Club member Freddie Jameson is adding to his long list of achievements, winning the under-13 boys bronze medal at the Canadian Junior Open in Ontario this week.

The Whangārei 12-year-old didn't drop a set in his three games leading up to the semi-final where he was beaten three sets to nil against the eventual winner, Egyptian Youssef Salem. In the third and fourth playoff, Jameson beat the No 1 seed Jacob Marrison, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, to take home the bronze.

"It feels really good to come third, I was proud of myself," Jameson said.

"I felt confident in my final game after learning my mistakes from my semifinal."

Jameson said his first games were quite straightforward before running into a tough semifinal.

"I felt confident I would reach the top four, it was how I played my semifinal and the third/fourth playoff that was going to determine my place.

"I would love the chance to play the eventual winner again to see if I could beat him next time but he deserved the title."

Jameson is currently in the United States competing at another junior tournament. He was part of the NZ Junior Development Squad this year and will be in next year's NZ Emerging Talent Squad.

Some of his achievements this year have been second place at Oceania Junior Championships U13 boys in Australia, first in the U13 boys North Island Age Groups in Wellington, first in the U15 boys South Island Age Groups in Dunedin, gold medal in individuals and doubles at the Aims Games and first in the U13 boys at the New Zealand Age Group Juniors.

"He's got a lot of talent, a good character and he's got really good game and court awareness," Squash Northland assistant manager Gaye Trimble said.

Jameson was trained by former England national coach Paul Hornsby who travelled from Auckland about six times a month to provide world-class assistance to young Northland squash players.

"He's got a good technical coach in Paul Hornsby so they have been learning the right technical skills even from a young age," Trimble said.

"It's that experience that Paul has with coaching which can steer [Jameson] in the right direction."

Trimble said Jameson had the passion and drive to become a real force in New Zealand squash.

"He could go as far as he wanted, he could become professional if he wanted to keep it going. It's probably quite important to keep in touch with the rest of the world by going overseas to see where he fits on the world stage."

Jameson's path to bronze:

Round of 64: Bye.

Round of 32: F Jameson def A. Brown (Can) 11-5, 11-1, 11-6.

Round of 16: F Jameson def M. Baksh (Guy) 11-1, 11-4, 11-2.

Quarter-finals: F Jameson def L. Quon (Can) 11-3, 11-5, 11-5.

Semifinals: F Jameson lost to Y. Salem (Egy) 7-11, 7-11, 6-11.

Playoff for 3rd: F Jameson def J Marrison (Can) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7