Squash World Junior Championships: Egypt players dominate men’s and women’s draws

Egypt players dominated proceedings in the ongoing WSF-World Junior Squash Championship in Chennai on Saturday, filling all but one of the semifinals berths on offer.

While the men’s semifinals will be an all-Egyptian affair, Lucy Turmel of England is the only non-Egyptian in the semis of the women’s section.

As the action moved to the Express Avenue mall in the city, the top-seeds in both events advanced without much trouble.

The men’s top seed Marwan Tarek, the defending champion, marched ahead with a clinical 11-8, 11-1, 11-5 win over compatriot Mostafa Montaser (5/8 seed) in 31 minutes.

The top-seed and favourite in the women’s draw, Rowan El Araby overcame the early challenge from fellow Egyptian Hana Moataz (5/8 seed) to win 12-10, 11-6, 11-3.

Meanwhile, the impressive run of Singapore’s Indian-origin player Sneha Sivakumar ended with a straight games loss to Lucy Termel. Sneha Sivakumar, who had pulled off two wins over seeded opponents in previous rounds, went down 5-11, 8-11, 8-11.

The men’s quarterfinal between Mostafa El Serty (3/4 seed) of Egypt and Malaysia’s Darren Rahul Pragasam was a long-drawn affair. The energy-sapping encounter saw El Serty bounce back after being down by two games to one to oust his rival 4-11, 13-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6 in 57 minutes.

Later, second-seed Mostafa Asal held off Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 to reach the semifinals.

Similar was the fight between two other Egyptians Jana Shiha and her lower seed Farida Mohamed. Five games of ebb and flow saw Jana managing to clinch the match.

Results:

Quarterfinals - Men:

Marwan Tarek (1) bt Mostafa Montaser 11-8, 11-1, 11-5;
Omar El Torkey (Egy, 3/4) bt Nick Wall (Eng 5/8) 11-6, 11-3, 11-7;
Mostafa El Serty (3/4) bt Darren Rahul Pragasam (Mal) 4-11, 13-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6;
Mostafa Asal (2) Leonel Cardenas (Mex, 5/8) 12-10, 11-7, 11-9.

Quarterfinals - Women:

Rowan El Araby (1) bt Hana Moataz (Egy, 5/8) 12-10, 11-6, 11-3;
Jana Shiha (Egy, 5/8) bt Farida Mohamed (Egy, 13/16) 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 15-13;
Lucy Turmel (Eng 3/4) bt Sneha Sivakumar (Singapore) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8;
Hania El Hammamy (Egy, 2) bt Marina Stefanoni (US, 5/8) 11-2, 11-4, 11-7.