Seeds dominate opening day of 2023 WSF Women’s World Junior Team Championship

The higher seeded teams made a comfortable start to the 2023 WSF Women’s World Junior Team Championship, with the crowd in Melbourne Sports Centres witnessing a slew of dominant results on day one of the pools stage.

With a number of seeding mismatches scheduled today, the action on all three courts in Melbourne was largely one-sided as teams played in a 2-3-1 string order.

The day began ominously for the lower seeded teams, with whitewashes on all three courts in the afternoon session.

On Court Nine, Malaysia’s first string Aira Azman bounced back from her defeat in the final of the individual event last night by sealing maximum points for her side against New Zealand with a 3-0 win over Ella Lash, following wins by the same scoreline for Sehveetrraa Kumar and Thanusaa Uthrian.

On Court Six, India rapidly dismantled Ireland, with Tiana Parasrampuria, Yuvna Gupta and Anahat Singh needing just 46 minutes between them to dispatch the No.13 seeds.

On the glass court, Hong Kong, China impressed as Sze Wing Wai, Ka Huen Leung and Toby Tse breezed past Singapore.

In the evening session, defending champions and top seeds Egypt – who opted to rest their No.1 Amina Orfi following her victory in the final of the individual event last night – were rampant against No.10 seeds Scotland.

The North African nation has won the last seven women’s team events in a run going all the way back to 2007, and on today’s evidence the top seeds look well set for another title challenge.

Zeina Zein and Nour Megahed delivered the win for Egypt with 3-0 wins over Anna Halliday and Louisa Kaven, before Fayrouz Aboelkheir made sure of the result after overcoming stubborn resistance from 16-year-old Robyn McAlpine.

Despite the defeat, Scotland – who have returned to the championship for the first time since 2005 – will take positives from the experience into their next fixture, which comes against No.7 seeds Canada on Wednesday 26 July.

On Court Six, No.5 seeds England crushed No.14 seeds Chinese Taipei, while on Court Nine No.3 seeds USA secured a comfortable victory over No.11 seeds South Africa.

Day two of the 2023 WSF Women’s World Junior Team Championship resumes tomorrow at 14:00 (Melbourne, GMT+10), with action from all three courts being shown live and free on www.worldsquash.tv, alongside Olympic Channel coverage of the glass court ties.

You can view teams, schedules, pools and results on Tournament Software.

View photos from this year’s tournament here.

Results: WSF Women’s World Junior Team Championship – Pools Stage

Pool A
[1] Egypt 3-0 [10] Scotland
Fayrouz Aboelkheir bt Robyn McAlpine 3-1: 11-3, 11-1, 12-14, 11-4 (31m)
Zeina Zein bt Anna Halliday 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-2 (16m)
Nour Megahed bt  Louisa Kaven 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-1 (15m)

Pool B
[2] Malaysia 3-0 [9] New Zealand
Aira Azman bt Ella Lash 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (18m)
Sehveetrraa Kumar bt Sophie Hodges 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (20m)
Thanusaa Uthrian bt Anne Leakey 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-1 (17m)

Pool C
[3] USA 3-0 [11] South Africa
Madison Ho bt Savannah Ingledew 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 (32m)
Riya Navani bt Dené Van Zyl 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-1 (14m)
Emma Trauber bt Elske Garbers 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-0 (14m)

[5] England 3-0 [14] Chinese Taipei
Asia Harris bt Yu-Chen Cheng 11-1, 11-0, 11-2 (14m)
Amelie Haworth bt Jen-Ju Shaw Pearl 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (16m)
Meha Shah bt Mei Mei Chan 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (15m)

Pool D
[4] Hong Kong, China 3-0 [12] Singapore
Toby Tse bt Paige Teresa Hill 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (20m)
Sze Wing Wai bt Gracia Chua Rui Én 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (21m)
Ka Huen Leung bt Wai Iynn Au Yeong 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (23m)

[6] India 3-0 [13] Ireland
Anahat Singh bt Sarah Sabry 3-0: 11-1, 11-4, 11-2 (18m)
Tiana Parasrampuria bt Sophie Thomas 3-0: 11-2, 11-2, 11-3 (14m)
Yuvna Gupta bt Maria Protsepova 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (14m)

Schedule: WSF Women’s World Junior Team Championship – Pools Stage, Day Two (25 July)

Pool A
14:00 [1] Egypt v [7] Canada

Pool B
17:00 [2] Malaysia v [8] Australia

Pool C
14:00 [3] USA v [5] England
14:00 [11] South Africa v [14] Chinese Taipei

Pool D
17:00 [12] Singapore v [13] Ireland
17:00 [4] Hong Kong, China v [6] India