A couple of weeks is certainly a long time in squash. Just ask Shriya Drawid. The Belfast Boat Club player was beaten 3-1 by Sutton’s Zoe Yeomans in their Leinster Junior Open GU19 box match on January 24th, going on to finish fourth at that provincial tournament.
Twenty-two days later, though, that result was reversed in Cork at the Irish Junior Nationals. Drawid was only seeded third for the GU19 event at the Sunday’s Well Club in the Mardyke, but she won her way through to the decider where her 3-1 victory over Yeomans was confirmed 12-10 in the fourth-game tiebreak.
The Belfast teenager was blown away by her title success and learned soon after that she had been selected to represent Ireland at the upcoming U19 European Championships in Krakow in both the individual and team events (March 28th-31st and April 2nd to 5th).
“Honestly, it didn’t even feel real. It was so, so special. It makes all the hard work you put in all year really pay off,” she said to Squash Ireland, recalling the joyous moment she found out that a trip to Poland was now hers following her success at the Nationals.
In Galway the previous year, Drawid had bowed out to the eventual champion, Ella Erickson, at the first attempt and injury meant she didn’t contest the minor placings. Those ailments became the story of her 2025.
Winning used to be a regular occurrence. GU15 Nationals champion in Waterford in 2022 and again in Sutton in 2023. GU17 Nationals champion in 2024 at her local club in Belfast.
However, she was unable to maintain her rhythm after that, and her commitment to the 2025/26 season endured an awkward start that resulted in her taking a step back from tournaments to figure it all out.
“So, last year I lost to Ella in the first round and had to pull out because of an injury, so I was really hungry for this this year,” she explained. “I had a bit of a rough start to the season, so I put in a good few weeks’ work with my coach back home, and yeah, it [the title win] meant so much.”
How rough was the start? “I just wasn’t really sort of in the best place, just struggling with injuries from last season and sort of coming back from that, managing school and all that. I put in a good few weeks of work, and it really paid off.”
What was the main lesson she took from her adversity? “The main one is that, like anything you are going through, mentally or physically, you can overcome it. For me, I was really, really struggling. Like, didn’t play tournaments because I wasn’t in a good place. So then, coming to the Nationals feeling strong, feeling happy was really meaningful for me.”
That happiness helped her clinch the title in a fourth-game tiebreaker. “That last rally, I was honestly just thinking ‘don’t make mistakes’. It was just to try and keep it simple, try not to be too special. I really like my drops and stuff, so it was me being a bit more disciplined, going ‘let’s get this rally, let’s make them work hard’ and ‘I don’t want to lose this point’.” She didn’t.
It was around a decade ago when Drawid first took up a racket. “I started when I was seven or eight. My brother played, and I got into it because of him. It has always been the Boat Club; we live really close to it, so it’s very handy.
“It’s been such a big part of my life. I have sort of grown up there, being around all those people, and they are honestly the best people I have ever met.
“I am working with my coach, Josh McVeigh, and just a couple of members there. They’re amazing, and having a role model like Hannah Craig, who came from Belfast, it’s inspiring to see her journey as well. Whenever I was struggling at the start of the year, it meant so much that I knew I had support coming from there.”
What does Drawid love most about squash? “The variety of it, I am never bored. No matter what standard you get to, there is always more you can work on. Yeah, I just like the variety.”
That variety now has a trip to Krakow on the horizon, but the A-level student has longer-term squash goals. “It’s my first Europeans, I am just going to go and give my all,” she said.
“I’m very excited just to see where I am compared to some of the top players in the world, really, and it’s good practice for going into the World Junior Championships in Canada as well, so it’s an amazing opportunity, I am so excited… Training with the team is so exciting. They are my best friends.
“My parents are coming over the day after we fly to Krakow, and my brother is coming over later on for the team event. I don’t think he has seen me play in a while, so I am very excited for him to be there.
“I’m doing my A levels this year, so I have to balance that as well. It’s tough, definitely around exam periods. My exams are in May this year, but even class tests and all that, when you are travelling and you’re missing so much, it is difficult.
“But it’s just trying to get like a balance, a bit of training and then coming home studying for a couple of hours. That’s what you have got to do.
“University? I’m looking to do medicine, so being a professional (squash player) is probably not on the cards for that, maybe not for a while anyway, but I would like to play for the Irish senior team. So that’s the goal for now.
“Somewhere in England is where I am looking at the minute (for university) and then if I was able to move to America after that, it would be amazing to do that and play squash in America.”
