After a third day of action in the WSF World Junior Squash Championships in Poland, Egypt has reinforced its status as the powerhouse nation of junior world squash by securing three places in the men’s quarter-finals and six slots in the women’s last eight of the World Squash Federation championships at the Hasta La Vista Club in the historical city of Wroclaw.
Top seed Fares Dessouki reached the men’s quarter-finals for the second successive year after beating Pakistan’s 9/16 seed Tayyab Aslam 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 in 54 minutes. The 18-year-old from Alexandria will now 5/8 seed Diego Elias for a place in the semi-finals for the first time.
Elias is making history by being the first Peru player ever to compete in the championships. The talented 16-year-old from Lima – holder of both the Pan American and South American U19 titles – brushed aside unseeded Englishman Angus Gillams11-6, 11-6, 11-8.
The only men’s quarter-final without any Egyptian interest will present an intriguing clash between 5/8 seed Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi and Englishman Lyell Fuller – the only unseeded player to reach the last eight.
In one of the day’s biggest upsets, 17-year-old Fuller beat Jordanian hope Ahmad Al-Saraj, a 3/4 seed, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 in 75 minutes, while Al Tamimi became the first player from Qatar to reach the event’s quarter-finals after defeating Egypt’s Osama Khaled Khalifa 11-6, 11-6, 11-1.
Kuwaiti Yousif Nizar Saleh has also created a breakthrough for his country by claiming Kuwait’s first appearance in the last eight. The 18-year-old beat England’s Bradley Smith 13-11, 11-3, 11-6 to set up a clash with second-seeded EgyptianKarim Ayman Elhammamy.
But the women’s event is set to become an all-Egyptian affair: Favourite Nour El Sherbini continued her relentless bid to become the first player in history to win a world junior title for a third time by despatching India’s unseeded Sachika Ingale11-1, 11-3, 11-1.
The 17-year-old from Alexandria now takes on 16-year-old compatriot Salma Hany Ibrahim, a 5/8 seed who ousted Hong Kong’s Asian Junior champion Ho Ka Po 11-2, 11-5, 11-8.
Second seed Nouran Gohar is also competing in an all-Egyptian quarter-final, against 5/8 seed Mariam Metwally. Gohar, 15, from Cairo, defeated unseeded New Zealander Rebecca Barnett 11-3, 11-2, 11-3, while Metwally beat USA’s Maria Elena Ubina 11-6, 11-5, 11-7.
But standing firmly in the Egyptians’ way are 3/4 seed Sabrina Sobhy and 5/8 seed Nele Gilis. US 16-year-old Sobhy – the younger sister of 2010 champion Amanda Sobhy – defeated England’s Nada Elkalaawy 7-11, 11-2, 11-8, 13-11 and will now line up against 9/16 seed Habiba Mohamed.
Belgium’s Nele Gilis defeated England’s Anna Kimberley 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8. The 17-year-old recently-crownedPioneer Junior U19 Open champion now faces 3/4 seed Yathreb Adel.
RESULTS: WSF World Junior Squash Championships, Wroclaw, Poland
Men’s 4th round:
[1] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt [9/16] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (54m)
[5/8] Diego Elias (PER) bt Angus Gillams (ENG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (35m)
[5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [9/16] Osama Khaled Khalifa (EGY) 11-6, 11-6, 11-1 (29m)
Lyell Fuller (ENG) bt [3/4] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (75m)
[9/16] Mohamed El Gawarhy (EGY) bt [3/4] Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (PAK) 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5 (76m)
[5/8] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7
[5/8] Yousif Nizar Saleh (KUW) bt [9/16] Bradley Smith (ENG) 13-11, 11-3, 11-6 (40m)
[2] Karim Ayman Elhammamy (EGY) bt Omar Elatmas (EGY) 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (37m)Women’s 3rd round:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Tessa ter Sluis (NED) 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 (20m)
Sachika Ingale (IND) bt [9/16] Hollie Naughton (CAN) 13-11, 4-11, 11-9, 0-11, 11-4 (36m)
[9/16] Ho Ka Po (HKG) bt Harshit Kaur Jawanda (IND) 11-13, 11-8, 11-1, 11-8 (37m)
[5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (24m)
[5/8] Victoria Temple Murray (ENG) bt Celine Yeap (MAS) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (32m)
[9/16] Habiba Mohamed Ahmed Alymohmed (EGY) bt Ho Tze-Lok (HKG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (28m)
[9/16] Nada Elkalaawy (ENG) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 11-3, 11-9, 11-5 (28m)
[3/4] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Colette Sultana (MLT) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (26m)
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt Pansy Chan (HKG) 11-4, 11-6, 13-11 (32m)
Lily Taylor (ENG) bt [9/16] Lakshya Ragavendran (IND) 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 (30m)
Anna Kimberley (ENG) bt [9/16] Vanessa Raj (MAS) 5-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-2 (53m)
[5/8] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Olivia Fiechter (USA) 11-5, 3-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8 (44m)
[5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY) bt Alyssa Mehta (CAN) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (29m)
Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [9/16] Rachel Arnold (MAS) 9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (35m)
Rebecca Barnett (NZL) bt [9/16] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 (32m)
[2] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (EGY) bt Cindy Merlo (SUI) 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (23m)
4th round:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Sachika Ingale (IND) 11-1, 11-3, 11-1 (21m)
[5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) bt [9/16] Ho Ka Po (HKG) 11-2, 11-5, 11-8 (31m)
[9/16] Habiba Mohamed Ahmed Alymohmed (EGY) bt [5/8] Victoria Temple Murray (ENG) 13-11, 11-3, 11-6 (33m)
[3/4] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt [9/16] Nada Elkalaawy (ENG) 7-11, 11-2, 11-8, 13-11 (39m)
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt Lily Taylor (ENG) 11-2, 11-4, 6-11, 11-3 (26m)
[5/8] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Anna Kimberley (ENG) 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8 (47m)
[5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY) bt Maria Elena Ubina (USA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (22m)
[2] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (EGY) bt Rebecca Barnett (NZL) 11-3, 11-2, 11-3 (19m)