Two successive titles on the junior international squash circuit this month have raised Qatari teenager Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi‘s hopes of becoming the first Middle East winner of the WSF World Junior Squash Championship in the 33-year history of the event.
In the event’s first ever staging in Poland, the 2013 Men’s & Women’s World Junior Individual Championships will get underway tomorrow (16 July) at the new 19-court Hasta La Vista Club in Wroclaw – boasting more than 150 players from a record 37 nations. There will also be a 20th court in one of the largest clubs in Europe – an all-glass showcourt being erected in the sports hall for the championship.
The individual championships will be followed by the Women’s World Junior Team Championship from 22-27 July.
After winning the long-established Pioneer Junior U19 Open in Germany last week as a 3/4 seed, Al Tamimi (pictured above) yesterday successfully retained the Dutch Junior U19 Open trophy in Amsterdam. The 18-year-old from Doha is a 5/8 seed in Wroclaw where his first opponent will be the winner of the match between Frenchman Adrien Grondin and Argentina’s Francisco Obregon.
Pakistani hopes of success in the men’s event for the first time since the legendary Jansher Khan won the title in 1986 were boosted by Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari in last month’s Asian Junior Championships. The 17-year-old from Lahore upset Jordan’s top seed Ahmad Al-Saraj in the final to win the title for the first time. Bokhari and Al-Saraj are the two 3/4 seeds in Poland.
But the men’s seedings in Wroclaw predict an all-Egypt final between British Junior U19 Open champion Fares Mohamed Dessouki, from Alexandria, and second seed Karim Ayman Elhammamy, the US Junior U19 Openchampion from Cairo – thus the title remaining in Egyptian hands for the eighth successive time since an English victory byJames Willstrop in 2002.
A major historical breakthrough is anticipated in the women’s championship where Egypt’s world No11 Nour El Sherbini is the top seed.
The 17-year-old from Alexandria – who became the sport’s youngest ever world champion in 2009 by winning the title aged just 13 – is now set to outdo greats like world number ones Nicol David and Ramy Ashour by claiming the title for an unprecedented third time!
But El Sherbini will face tough opposition in pursuit of her record title – led by second-seeded compatriot Nouran Ahmed Gohar, the 15-year-old All Africa Junior Champion.
Further opposition will be provided by 3/4 seeds Yathreb Adel, the two-time British Junior U17 Open champion from Egypt, and New York’s Sabrina Sobhy, the US Junior U19 Open champion.
Nele Gilis‘ bid to become the first champion from Belgium was given a boost when the 17-year-old won the Pioneer Junior U19 Open trophy.
While Gilis is a 5/8 seed, Hong Kong’s Ho Ka Po is seeded in the 9/16 group – yet the 18-year-old upset the form book last month in Jordan by taking the Asian Junior U19 Championship title.
It was a feat repeated by fellow 9/16 seed Hollie Naughton when the 18-year-old Canadian upset three higher seeds to win the Pan American Junior U19 Championship title last month in Brazil.
Men’s individual championship 1st round draw:
[1] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bye
Piotr Hemmerling (POL) v Vojtech Babista (CZE)
Roee Avraham (ISR) bye
Remo Handl (SUI) bye
Claudio Pinto (POR) bye
Filip Mazurkiewicz (POL) v Enzo Corigliano (FRA)
Vitaliy Yevdochenko (UKR) v Pascal Gomez (ESP)
[9/16] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bye
[9/16] Robin Gadola (SUI) bye
Adam Pelczynski (POL) v Gonzalo Gallardo (ARG)
Andre Ergenz (GER) bye
Angus Gillams (ENG) bye
Deepak Mishra (IND) bye
Eissa Eshkanani (KUW) bye
Le Hugo van Rooyen (NAM) v Pierson Broadwater (USA)
[5/8] Diego Elias (PER) bye
[5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bye
Francisco Obregon (ARG) v Adrien Grondin (FRA)
Israr Ahmed (PAK) bye
Manuel Wanner (SUI) bye
Josue Enriquez (GUA) bye
Khaled Al-Jenaidel (KUW) bye
Lawrence Kuhn (RSA) v Lenard Puski (HUN)
[9/16] Osama Khaled Khalifa (EGY) bye
[9/16] Amaad Fareed (PAK) bye
Rishi Tandon (IND) v Petr Zatrepalek (CZE)
Lyell Fuller (ENG) bye
Dylan Murray (USA) bye
Lucas Wirths (GER) bye
Nicolas Valderrama (COL) bye
Edgar Zayas (MEX) v Mathias Grondin (FRA)
[3/4] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) bye
[3/4] Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (PAK) bye
Adrian Marszal (POL) v Niklas Becher (GER)
Jakub Solnicky (CZE) bye
Andres Felipe de Frutos (COL) bye
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bye
Michael Babra (SWE) bye
Jordy Camps (BEL) v Hayes Murphy (USA)
[9/16] Mohamed El Gawarhy (EGY) bye
[9/16] Kush Kumar (IND) bye
Rodrigo Obregon (ARG) v Balazs Farkas (HUN)
Athbi Khalid Hamad (KUW) bye
Joel Makin (WAL) bye
Edward Columbia (USA) bye
Seigo Masuda (ENG) bye
Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
[5/8] Richie Fallows (ENG) bye
[5/8] Yousif Nizar Saleh (KUW) bye
Aubrey Lawrence (RSA) v Vijay Meena Kumar (IND)
Devin McLaughlin (USA) bye
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bye
Bilal Zakir (PAK) bye
Andres Gonzalez (COL) bye
Felix Auer (GER) v Damian Olejnik (POL)
[9/16] Ashley Davies (ENG) bye
[9/16] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bye
Gergely Nandor Papp (HUN) v Madhav Dhingra (IND)
George Parker (ENG) v Martin Svec (CZE)
Omar Elatmas (EGY) bye
Federico Cioffi (ARG) bye
Roshan Bharos (NED) bye
Silvio Soom (SUI) v Dmytro Pogrebniak (UKR)
[2] Karim Ayman Elhammamy (EGY) byeWomen’s individual championship 1st round draw:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bye
Julia Chudzicka (POL) v Tinne Gilis (BEL)
Laura Casallas (COL) bye
Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bye
Grace McErvale (AUS) bye
Sachika Ingale (IND) v Hayley Hughes (NZL)
Oceane Wadoux (FRA) v Winifer Bonilla (GUA)
[9/16] Hollie Naughton (CAN) bye
[9/16] Ho Ka Po (HKG) bye
Reeham Sedky (USA) v Nadja Pfister (SUI)
Karolina Holinkova (CZE) bye
Harshit Kaur Jawanda (IND) bye
Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bye
Bianca Brown (RSA) bye
Laura Gamblin (FRA) v Momoka Nakahira (JPN)
[5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) bye
[5/8] Victoria Temple Murray (ENG) bye
Sophie Mehta (CAN) v Aleksandra Surdziel (POL)
Barbora Krejcova (CZE) bye
Celine Yeap (MAS) bye
Ho Tze-Lok (HKG) bye
Teh Min Jie (MAS) bye
Adya Advani (IND) v Katie Tutrone (USA)
[9/16] Habiba Mohamed Ahmed Alymohmed (EGY) bye
[9/16] Nada Elkalaawy (ENG) bye
Dileas MacGowan (CAN) v Abbie Palmer (NZL)
Jadeleen Lee (MAS) bye
Marie Stephan (FRA) bye
Colette Sultana (MLT) bye
Maria Paula Tovar (COL) bye
Klaudia Borek (POL) v Natalie Newton (AUS)
[3/4] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bye
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) bye
Nicole Stoneham (AUS) v Dominika Kejikova (CZE)
Chloe Chemtob (USA) bye
Pansy Chan (HKG) bye
Lily Taylor (ENG) bye
Natalia Londono (COL) bye
Julie Rossignol (FRA) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
[9/16] Lakshya Ragavendran (IND) bye
[9/16] Vanessa Raj (MAS) bye
Tanvi Khanna (IND) v Ayaka Shiraishi (JPN)
Makgooi Peloakgosi (RSA) bye
Anna Kimberley (ENG) bye
Eleanor Epke (NZL) bye
Olivia Fiechter (USA) bye
Alison Richmond (CAN) v Lea van der Zwalmen (FRA)
[5/8] Nele Gilis (BEL) bye
[5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY) bye
Kacey-Leigh Dodd (RSA) v Iga Cierpial (POL)
Alyssa Mehta (CAN) bye
Kristyna Alexova (CZE) bye
Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bye
Laura Tovar Perez (COL) bye
Choi Uen Shan (HKG) v Elise Romba (FRA)
[9/16] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bye
[9/16] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bye
Urwashi Joshi (IND) v Kayley Leonard (USA)
Natalia Ryfa (POL) v Rebecca Barnett (NZL)
Emilia Soini (FIN) bye
Megan Page (RSA) bye
Cindy Merlo (SUI) bye
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Georgina Kennedy (ENG)
[2] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (EGY) bye
For updated draws and results, together with other championship information, please go to the official event website: hastalavista.pl/wjc-2013/