In-Form Al Tamimi Raises Qatari World Junior Hopes

Poland, July 15, 2013: Two successive titles on the junior international squash circuit this month have raised Qatari teenager Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi‘s hopes of becoming the first Middle East winner of the WSF World Junior Squash Championship in the 33-year history of the event.

In the event’s first ever staging in Poland, the 2013 Men’s & Women’s World Junior Individual Championships will get underway tomorrow (16 July) at the new 19-court Hasta La Vista Club in Wroclaw – boasting more than 150 players from a record 37 nations. There will also be a 20th court in one of the largest clubs in Europe – an all-glass showcourt being erected in the sports hall for the championship.

The individual championships will be followed by the Women’s World Junior Team Championship from 22-27 July.

After winning the long-established Pioneer Junior U19 Open in Germany last week as a 3/4 seed, Al Tamimi (image attached) yesterday successfully retained the Dutch Junior U19 Open trophy in Amsterdam. The 18-year-old from Doha is a 5/8 seed in Wroclaw where his first opponent will be the winner of the match between Frenchman Adrien Grondin and Argentina’s Francisco Obregon.

Pakistani hopes of success in the men’s event for the first time since the legendary Jansher Khan won the title in 1986 were boosted by Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari in last month’s Asian Junior Championships. The 17-year-old from Lahore upset Jordan’s top seed Ahmad Al-Saraj in the final to win the title for the first time. Bokhari and Al-Saraj are the two 3/4 seeds in Poland.

But the men’s seedings in Wroclaw predict an all-Egypt final between British Junior U19 Open champion Fares Mohamed Dessouki, from Alexandria, and second seed Karim Ayman Elhammamy, the US Junior U19 Open champion from Cairo – thus the title remaining in Egyptian hands for the eighth successive time since an English victory by James Willstrop in 2002.

A major historical breakthrough is anticipated in the women’s championship where Egypt’s world No11 Nour El Sherbini is the top seed.

The 17-year-old from Alexandria – who became the sport’s youngest ever world champion in 2009 by winning the title aged just 13 – is now set to outdo greats like world number ones Nicol David and Ramy Ashour by claiming the title for an unprecedented third time!

But El Sherbini will face tough opposition in pursuit of her record title – led by second-seeded compatriot Nouran Ahmed Gohar, the 15-year-old All Africa Junior Champion.

Further opposition will be provided by 3/4 seeds Yathreb Adel, the two-time British Junior U17 Open champion from Egypt, and New York’s Sabrina Sobhy, the US Junior U19 Open champion.

Nele Gilis’ bid to become the first champion from Belgium was given a boost when the 17-year-old won the Pioneer Junior U19 Open trophy.

While Gilis is a 5/8 seed, Hong Kong’s Ho Ka Po is seeded in the 9/16 group – yet the 18-year-old upset the form book last month in Jordan by taking the Asian Junior U19 Championship title.

It was a feat repeated by fellow 9/16 seed Hollie Naughton when the 18-year-old Canadian upset three higher seeds to win the Pan American Junior U19 Championship title last month in Brazil.

Men’s individual championship 1st round draw:

[1] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bye

Piotr Hemmerling (POL) v Vojtech Babista (CZE)

Roee Avraham (ISR) bye

Remo Handl (SUI) bye

Claudio Pinto (POR) bye

Filip Mazurkiewicz (POL) v Enzo Corigliano (FRA)

Vitaliy Yevdochenko (UKR) v Pascal Gomez (ESP)

[9/16] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bye

[9/16] Robin Gadola (SUI) bye

Adam Pelczynski (POL) v Gonzalo Gallardo (ARG)

Andre Ergenz (GER) bye

Angus Gillams (ENG) bye

Deepak Mishra (IND) bye

Eissa Eshkanani (KUW) bye

Le Hugo van Rooyen (NAM) v Pierson Broadwater (USA)

[5/8] Diego Elias (PER) bye

[5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bye

Francisco Obregon (ARG) v Adrien Grondin (FRA)

Israr Ahmed (PAK) bye

Manuel Wanner (SUI) bye

Josue Enriquez (GUA) bye

Khaled Al-Jenaidel (KUW) bye

Lawrence Kuhn (RSA) v Lenard Puski (HUN)

[9/16] Osama Khaled Khalifa (EGY) bye

[9/16] Amaad Fareed (PAK) bye

Rishi Tandon (IND) v Petr Zatrepalek (CZE)

Lyell Fuller (ENG) bye

Dylan Murray (USA) bye

Lucas Wirths (GER) bye

Nicolas Valderrama (COL) bye

Edgar Zayas (MEX) v Mathias Grondin (FRA)

[3/4] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) bye

[3/4] Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (PAK) bye

Adrian Marszal (POL) v Niklas Becher (GER)

Jakub Solnicky (CZE) bye

Andres Felipe de Frutos (COL) bye

Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bye

Michael Babra (SWE) bye

Jordy Camps (BEL) v Hayes Murphy (USA)

[9/16] Mohamed El Gawarhy (EGY) bye

[9/16] Kush Kumar (IND) bye

Rodrigo Obregon (ARG) v Balazs Farkas (HUN)

Athbi Khalid Hamad (KUW) bye

Joel Makin (WAL) bye

Edward Columbia (USA) bye

Seigo Masuda (ENG) bye

Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)

[5/8] Richie Fallows (ENG) bye

[5/8] Yousif Nizar Saleh (KUW) bye

Aubrey Lawrence (RSA) v Vijay Meena Kumar (IND)

Devin McLaughlin (USA) bye

Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bye

Bilal Zakir (PAK) bye

Andres Gonzalez (COL) bye

Felix Auer (GER) v Damian Olejnik (POL)

[9/16] Ashley Davies (ENG) bye

[9/16] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bye

Gergely Nandor Papp (HUN) v Madhav Dhingra (IND)

George Parker (ENG) v Martin Svec (CZE)

Omar Elatmas (EGY) bye

Federico Cioffi (ARG) bye

Roshan Bharos (NED) bye

Silvio Soom (SUI) v Dmytro Pogrebniak (UKR)

[2] Karim Ayman Elhammamy (EGY) bye

Women’s individual championship 1st round draw:

[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bye

Julia Chudzicka (POL) v Tinne Gilis (BEL)

Laura Casallas (COL) bye

Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bye

Grace McErvale (AUS) bye

Sachika Ingale (IND) v Hayley Hughes (NZL)

Oceane Wadoux (FRA) v Winifer Bonilla (GUA)

[9/16] Hollie Naughton (CAN) bye

[9/16] Ho Ka Po (HKG) bye

Reeham Sedky (USA) v Nadja Pfister (SUI)

Karolina Holinkova (CZE) bye

Harshit Kaur Jawanda (IND) bye

Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bye

Bianca Brown (RSA) bye

Laura Gamblin (FRA) v Momoka Nakahira (JPN)

[5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) bye

[5/8] Victoria Temple Murray (ENG) bye

Sophie Mehta (CAN) v Aleksandra Surdziel (POL)

Barbora Krejcova (CZE) bye

Celine Yeap (MAS) bye

Ho Tze-Lok (HKG) bye

Teh Min Jie (MAS) bye

Adya Advani (IND) v Katie Tutrone (USA)

[9/16] Habiba Mohamed Ahmed Alymohmed (EGY) bye

[9/16] Nada Elkalaawy (ENG) bye

Dileas MacGowan (CAN) v Abbie Palmer (NZL)

Jadeleen Lee (MAS) bye

Marie Stephan (FRA) bye

Colette Sultana (MLT) bye

Maria Paula Tovar (COL) bye

Klaudia Borek (POL) v Natalie Newton (AUS)

[3/4] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bye

[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) bye

Nicole Stoneham (AUS) v Dominika Kejikova (CZE)

Chloe Chemtob (USA) bye

Pansy Chan (HKG) bye

Lily Taylor (ENG) bye

Natalia Londono (COL) bye

Julie Rossignol (FRA) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)

[9/16] Lakshya Ragavendran (IND) bye

[9/16] Vanessa Raj (MAS) bye

Tanvi Khanna (IND) v Ayaka Shiraishi (JPN)

Makgooi Peloakgosi (RSA) bye

Anna Kimberley (ENG) bye

Eleanor Epke (NZL) bye

Olivia Fiechter (USA) bye

Alison Richmond (CAN) v Lea van der Zwalmen (FRA)

[5/8] Nele Gilis (BEL) bye

[5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY) bye

Kacey-Leigh Dodd (RSA) v Iga Cierpial (POL)

Alyssa Mehta (CAN) bye

Kristyna Alexova (CZE) bye

Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bye

Laura Tovar Perez (COL) bye

Choi Uen Shan (HKG) v Elise Romba (FRA)

[9/16] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bye

[9/16] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bye

Urwashi Joshi (IND) v Kayley Leonard (USA)

Natalia Ryfa (POL) v Rebecca Barnett (NZL)

Emilia Soini (FIN) bye

Megan Page (RSA) bye

Cindy Merlo (SUI) bye

Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Georgina Kennedy (ENG)

[2] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (EGY) bye. —- WSF