(Photo courtesy of hastalavista.pl)
By Howard Harding
After another 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 Mohamed 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 play 5/8 seed Diego Elias for a place in the semi-finals for the first time.
Elias is making history by being the first Peruvian 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 Gillams 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.
The only men’s quarter-final without any Egyptian interest will present an intriguing clash between 5/8 seed Abdulla Mohamed Al-Tamimi and Englishman Lyell Fuller, the only unseeded player to reach the last eight.
In one of the day’s biggest upsets, Fuller, 17, 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 Egyptian Karim Ayman El Hammamy.
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 dispatching India’s unseeded Sachika Ingale 11-1, 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 Ahmed Gohar is also competing in an all-Egyptian quarter-final, against 5/8 seed Mariam Ibrahim 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. Representing the US Sobhy, 16, 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 Ahmed Alymohmed.
Belgium’s Nele Gilis defeated England’s Anna Kimberley 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8. The 17-year-old recently-crowned Pioneer Junior U19 Open champion now faces 3/4 seed Yathreb Adel.
Men’s quarter-final line-up:
[1] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) v [5/8] Diego Elias (PER)
Lyell Fuller (ENG) v [5/8] Abdulla Mohamed Al-Tamimi (QAT)
[9/16] Mohamed El Gawarhy (EGY) v [5/8] Richie Fallows (ENG)
[2] Karim Ayman Elhammamy (EGY) v [5/8] Yousif Nizar Saleh (KUW)
Women’s quarter-final line-up:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY)
[3/4] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) v [9/16] Habiba Mohamed Ahmed Alymohmed (EGY)
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) v [5/8] Nele Gilis (BEL)
[2] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (EGY) v [5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY)
