It’s semi-finals day of the WSF World Junior Squash Championships (16 July) as the last eight players standing make their final push for a shot at glory at Houston Squash Club.
The quarter-finals begin at 13:20 (GMT-5) and take place on the spectacular show court at Houston Squash Club, with all the action being shown live and free on WORLDSQUASH.TV. At 10:00, consolation matches take place, with each one also available to watch via WORLDSQUASH.TV.
Play begins with the last home hope remaining, USA’s [3/4] seed Caroline Fouts, going up against No.2 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt. History suggests Fouts, who along with Aboelkheir is playing in her last ever World Juniors, will need to be at her very best to secure an upset, with the Egyptian winning all three of their previous meetings, including a 3-0 victory in the finals of this year’s British Junior Open and a 3-1 win in the quarter-finals of last year’s World Juniors.
Up next, [9/16] seeds Harith Danial of Malaysia and Joo Young Na of Republic of Korea will be aiming to record a moment of history for their nations. Na, who has already gone further than any Korean in the history of the competition after a stunning win over defending champion Hamza Khan yesterday, would go down in the record books as the first Korean to reach the final of the event should he win tonight. Danial, who overcame Na in the semi-final of this year’s Asian Junior Championships, is aiming to be Malaysia’s first men’s finalist since Eain Yow Ng in 2016.
The second women’s final will be contested by top seed and winner of the last two editions Amina Orfi, and her Egyptian compatriot and [3/4] seed Nadien Elhammamy. While Orfi has made serene progress through the competition, Elhammamy had to fight tooth and nail for her spot in the last four, with the 17-year-old surviving three match balls in her semi-final win over India’s Anahat Singh.
The last match of the day sees Egyptian top seed Mohamad Zakaria face India’s Shaurya Bawa. Like Elhammamy, Bawa came back from the brink last night in surviving three match balls against Malaysia’s Low Wa Sern to become India’s first semi-finalist for a decade. A shock win tonight would make him the first Indian to reach the final since Joshna Chinappa in 2005. Zakaria, meanwhile, will be fully focused on a return to the final after finishing runner up last year in Melbourne.
Click here to view the day’s schedule for all courts.
The 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships are taking place at Houston Squash Club, Texas, from 12-23 July. Find all the key information here.
Keep up with all the action at wsfworldjuniors.com.
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