Egypt & Malaysia To Contest World Junior Teams Final In New Zealand

The top two seeds Egypt and Malaysia will contest the final of the WSF Women’s World Junior Team Squash Championships in New Zealand after 2-0 victories in their semi-final clashes at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre in Tauranga.

While hot favourites Egypt are celebrating their eighth final in a row and bidding for a sixth successive title, second seeds Malaysia are back in the final for the first time since 2007 and for only the third time ever.

In the first semi-final, Egypt faced fourth seeds Hong Kong, who were the last team to beat them, in the 2005 final.

Amina Yousry put Egypt into the lead after beating Chan Sin Yuk 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 in just 17 minutes, while World Junior Championship runner-up Hania El Hammamy sealed victory with a 3-0 victory over Malaysia’s Lui Hiu Lam.

“I was very disappointed to lose the final of the individuals,” said El Hammamy.

“I didn’t perform the way I wanted to and it’s such a shame. But I have a chance to win the team event. I have to forget about the individuals and focus on the teams.

“We are so happy to be in the final. It’s the first time for all of us to be in the team event, we’re excited and we want to win it.”

Malaysia beat former champions England 2-0, with Aifa Azman getting the better of Jasmine Hutton in the first match.

18-year-old Azman, from Sussex, took the lead for the number three seeds, but Azman recovered to take the next two games 12-10 before wrapping it up in the fourth.

Malaysia’s number one junior player Sivasangari Subramaniam then made short work of Lucy Turmel, winning in straight games to send Malaysia to their first Women’s World Junior Team Championship final in a decade.

“We knew the first was going to be crucial,” said Malaysian coach Andrew Cross.

“Aifa was all over the shop mentally with the pressure, and Jasmine played well, she could and probably should have won, so we were happy to take that one. But Sivasangari was in dominant form.

“It’s going to be tough tomorrow, Egypt are obviously in good form and haven’t spent much time on court. There’s no pressure on us, but we’re probably looking at replaying two matches that both went against us in five in the individuals, so we’ll just see how it goes.”

Results

Semi-Finals: Women’s World Junior Team Squash Championship

[1] EGYPT bt [4] HONG KONG CHINA 2/0
Amina Yousry bt Chan Sin Yuk 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (17m)
Hania El Hammamy bt Lui Hiu Lam 11-4, 11-6, 11-1 (19m)

[2] MALAYSIA bt [3] ENGLAND 2/0
Aifa Azman bt Jasmine Hutton 6-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-6 (43m)
Sivasangari Subramaniam bt Lucy Turmel 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (31m)

5th-8th place Play-Offs

[6] INDIA bt [10] GERMANY 2/0
Aishwarya Bhattacharya bt Alice Kramer 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (17m)
Akanksha Salunkhe bt Saskia Beinhard 11-5, 11-6, 5-11, 11-2 (21m)

[5] USA bt [8] NEW ZEALAND 2/0
Laila Sedky bt Camden Te Kani-McQueen 11-7, 15-13, 11-8 (29m)
Marina Stefanoni bt Kaitlyn Watts 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 (31m)

9th-12th place Play-Offs

[9] AUSTRALIA bt [13] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1
Shehana Vithana bt Helena Coetzee 7-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4, 17-15 (42m)
Lauren Aspinall lost to Faith Panashe Sithole 8-11, 9-11, 7-11 (24m)
Alexandra Haydon bt Jennifer Preece 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 (24m)

[7] CANADA bt [12] REPUBLIC OF KOREA 2/1
Charlotte Orcutt bt Chae Won Song 11-3, 11-2, 11-4 (16m)
Emma Jinks bt Hyoju Seo 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7 (35m)
Nicole Kendall lost to Dong Ju Song 12-14, 11-4, 4-11 (20m)

13th place Play-Off

[11] FRANCE bt [14] IRELAND 2/1
Chloé Mourier bt Lily Lloyd 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (20m)
Fanny Segers lost to Laura Neill 12-14, 5-11, 7-11 (22m)
Lauriane Maingot bt Ellie McVeigh 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (36m)

Draw – Final

[1] EGYPT v [2] MALAYSIA

Draw – 5th place Play-Off

[6] INDIA v [5] USA

Draw – 7th place Play-Off

[8] NEW ZEALAND v [10] GERMANY

Draw – 9th place Play-Off

[7] CANADA v [9] AUSTRALIA

Draw – 9th place Play-Off

[13] SOUTH AFRICA v [12] REPUBLIC OF KOREA