The quarter-finals of the WSF World Junior Squash Championships begin today at Jarville TSB in Nancy, France.
Play begins at 11:00 (GMT+2) and all the matches will be played on the glass court in Jarville, which will be streamed on the WSF YouTube channel. The plate matches will take place in Maxéville, where court 4 will be streamed on the WSF YouTube channel, while courts 2,3 and 5 will be streamed on Squash Du Reve, Sportall, and Sport en France.
Read on as we preview today’s quarter-finals. All stats kindly provided by Squash Info.
In the first match of the day, Pakistan’s top seed Hamza Khan faces Egypt’s 5/8 seed Mohammed Nasser. Khan, 16, is already ranked World No.163 and last year won the US Junior U19 Open as the No.7 seed.
The winner of the Khan v Nasser match will take on an English opponent, with compatriots and tournament roommates 3/4 seed Finnlay Withington 9/16 seed Sam Osborne-Wylde going head to head. Despite being the higher seed, Withington has a 1-3 losing record against Osborne-Wild, though he won their most recent match, the final English Junior U19 Championship, 3-2.
In the bottom half of the draw, Juan Jose Torres Lara of Colombia and 5/8 seed Rowan Damming of the Netherlands will look to make further history for their countries. No Colombian nor Dutch player had ever reached the quarter-finals of the WSF World Junior Championships before, and both Torres – the only unseeded player left in the competition – and Damming will be looking to continue their impressive runs through the competition.
Completing the draw, 14-year-old 9/16 seed Mohamed Zakaria of Egypt faces French 9/16 seed Brice Nicolas. Nicolas, 18, produced the upset of the tournament yesterday when the Frenchman, the last representative remaining for the hosts, beat No.2 seed Noor Zaman of Pakistan 3-1.
In the women’s draw, top seed Kenzy Ayman of Egypt faces English 5/8 seed Saran Nghiem at 11:40. Both players are already active on the professional circuit, with Ayman – the highest ranked player in either draw at World No.60 – impressing at this year’s World Championships when she reached the second round and took a shock 1-0 lead against reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini before eventually losing 3-1.
The winner of the 11:40 match will play either Malaysia’s 3/4 seed Aira Azman or 5/8 seed Salma El Tayeb, the second of five Egyptians in the women’s draw. Azman, the sister of professional players Aifa and Aika, beat El Tayeb last month in the final of the Tuanku Muhriz Trophy, though El Tayeb won their two previous encounters.
In the bottom half of the draw, 3/4 Fayrouz Aboulkheir of Egypt will hope she can prevent India’s 14-year-old 9/16 seed Anahat Singh from springing another upset following Singh’s victory over 5/8 seed Torrie Malik yesterday. Abouelkheir will take confidence from her strong form so far, with the 16-year-old overcoming Miriam Min-Chen Cheng, Amelie Haworth and Lucie Stefanoni in straight games.
The final match of the day is an all Egyptian encounter between No.2 seed Amina Orfi and 5/8 seed Malak Khafagy in the pair’s first meeting.
Click here for the draws and live results from today’s quarter-finals and plate matches.
Draw: 2022 WSF Men’s World Junior Championship, Quarter-Finals (14/08)
[1] Mohammad Hamza Khan (PAK) – [5/8] Mohammed Nasser (EGY)
[9/16] Sam Osborne-Wylde (ENG) – [¾] Finnlay Withington (ENG)
Juan Jose Torres Lara (COL) – [5/8] Rowan Damming (NED)
[9/16] Mohamed Zakaria (EGY) – [9/16] Brice Nicolas (FRA)
Draw: 2022 WSF Women’s World Junior Championship, Quarter-Finals (14/08)
[1] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) – [5/8] Saran Nghiem (ENG)
[5/8] Salma El Tayeb (EGY) – [¾] Aira Azman (MAS)
[¾] Fayrouz Abouelkheir (EGY) – [9/16] Anahat Singh (IND)