Englishman Anderson Gatecrashes World Junior Quarter-Finals In KL

England claimed a surprise additional place in the men’s quarter-finals of the CIMB Foundation WSF World Junior Squash Championships in Malaysia today when unseeded Lewis Anderson pulled off two successive upsets in his debut appearance in the annual World Squash Federation event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

After causing the shock exit of Czech Viktor Byrtus in the third round session in the morning – beating the 3/4 seed 11-9, 13-15, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6 – the 18-year-old from Warwickshire progressed to take out Egypt’s Karim Elbarbary, a 13/16 seed, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 in the last 16 round.

“It was massive to beat Viktor in the third round,” said Anderson. “I looked at the draw, playing the third-fourth seed and somehow I just managed to push through for my biggest win yet.

“After that I went back to the hotel, got some food and I felt good and I backed myself to go against another tough opponent.

“When I came back on court, everything went smoothly and I played some of my best squash so I’m really happy to be in the top eight,” added the surprise quarter-finalist.

Anderson, the 2018 Dutch U19 Junior Open champion, will now face surprise opponent Veer Chotrani, the Asian Junior Under-19 champion who is a 9/12 seed in KL. The 17-year-old from Mumbai came from a game down to shock Switzerland’s 5/8 seed Yannick Wilhelmi 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3.

Fourth round action in the women’s event produced the quarter-final line-up predicted by the seedings.

Favourite Hania El Hammamy, the Egyptian who finished as runner-up both in 2017 and 2018, cruised into the last eight courtesy of an 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 win over Hong Kong’s Lee Sum Yuet.

The 18-year-old from Cairo, who is ranked 15 in the world, will now face Hong Kong’s 5/8 seed Chan Sin Yuk for a place in her fourth successive semi-final.

Draw – Men’s Quarter Finals
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [5/8] Siow Yee Xian (MAS)
Lewis Anderson (ENG) v [9/12] Veer Chotrani (IND)
[3/4] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) v [5/8] Sam Todd (ENG)
[2] Omar El Torkey (EGY) v [5/8] Yehia Elnawasany (EGY)

Draw – Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v [5/8] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG)
[3/4] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v [5/8] Chan Yiwen (MAS)
[3/4] Aifa Azman (MAS) v [5/8] Elise Lazarus (ENG)
[2] Jana Shiha (EGY) v [5/8] Marina Stefanoni (USA)