World Junior Championship: Asal keeps his crown, 3rd time lucky for El Hammamy

Hania El Hammamy and Mostafa Asal are the 2019 World Junior Champions (Photo credit: #WSFWorldJuniors2019)

Main story: Another Egyptian double at the World Junior Championships

The individual World Junior Championships came to an end on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the favourites came through in the two draws: Mostafa Asal kept his title without dropping a game, while it was third lucky for Hania El Hammamy after two losses in the final.

Egypt have dominated squash lately, especially in juniors as shown by these numbers: it was the fifth time in the 2010 decade that the four finalists belonged to the country of the Pharaohs, and it's also the 7th boy-girl double during the same period. Beaten in the last two finals by Rowan El Araby (author's note: who turned 19 in the 29th of July and therefore couldn't try and become the first player ever to win 3 World Junior Championships in a row), World No.15 Hania El Hammamy had one last chance to put her hands on the trophy and she didn't miss it in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She fought back from a deficit in the first game against second seed Jana Shiha, but having taken the lead she was always ahead in the next two games, clinching the title on a stroke and sinking to her knees in relief. “I’ve finally done it,” she said, “I’m so relieved and happy! I learned so many things from the two previous finals, and I was very focused on not making the same errors. Jana and I have played so many times against each other, and we train together as well. I am sure she's gonna be a good player on the professional tour soon and I hope she does great in the World Juniors next year." Shiha, aged only 17, had saved match balls in the semis against home hero Aifa Azman before going through in five games. Her main challenger next year in Australia should be another Egyptian, Farida Mohamed, who was the only player to take a game off El Hammamy in their semifinal clash.

Jana Shiha, Aifa Azman and Lewis Anderson - praised by Asal - could not get the gold but they can all be proud of their performance (Photo credits: #WSFWorldJuniors2019)

In the boys' event, title holder Mostafa Asal was the huge favourite and he didn't disappoint. The World No.29 did not drop a game all week but Mostafa El Serty - who came out victorious after a huge battle with Omar El Torkey in the semifinals - was close to take the opening game in the final, while the top seed was handed a conduct stroke for excessive physical play as he pushed his opponent into the side wall. However, the 17-year old let 3 games balls slip at 10-7 and it was all about Asal after this. The "Raging Bull" joined the likes of Diego Elias, Mohamed El Shorbagy, Marwan El Shorbagy and Ramy Ashour and became the fifth player to retain his title. "Things could have been different had he won  the first game," Asal said, “But I thought I played well today and I’m proud and happy to win the title again.” The bronze medal went to both Omar El Torkey and Lewis Anderson, who made the headlines in Malaysia: the English boy - who beat European champion Viktor Byrtus early in the tournament - was the first unseeded player the to reach the semifinal stage since Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan in 2004.

Other squash news in July

Leo Au wins the QSF Open

Hong Kong’s Leo Au became the new QSF Open champion, after having beaten home favourite Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi in straight games in the final in Doha - the pair being the top two seeds in the tournament. In the quarters, Hong Kong's number 2 had overcome a fierce challenge from Victor Crouin, but managed to end the Frenchman’s tremendous unbeaten run, which had seen him compile 3 titles in Australia in the previous weeks. Leo Au's next appearance will be at the J.P. Morgan China Squash Open in early September.

Leo Au won the QSF Open in Doha (Photo credit: PSA World Tour)

Source: PSA World Tour

The United States win five gold medals at the Pan Am Games

Although Diego Elias delighted his home crowd with a first Pan Am gold medal - taking revenge over Miguel Angel Rodriguez who had beaten him in Toronto four years ago - it was the United States that dominated the week in Lima, with a total of five titles in seven events! Amanda Sobhy became the first woman to win individual gold in successive Pan Am Games when she beat her US team-mate Olivia Blatchford Clyne in a repeat of the 2015 final in Toronto. She went on to win the doubles with her younger sister Sabrina Sobhy, and their compatriots Chris Hanson & Todd Harrity also struck gold, recovering from a game down to overcome Canadians Shawn Delierre & Nick Sachvie. Colombia claimed the gold medal with Catalina Pelaez & Miguel Rodriguez justifying their top-seeding in the mixed doubles. Against expectations, USA clinched both team gold medals, becoming the first country to achieve this feat since hosts Canada 20 years ago in 1995. Furthermore, Amanda Sobhy replicated her historic triple gold medal success in the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. In the final against Canada, she put Team USA on the scoreboard first with a win over Hollie Naughton, before Olivia Blatchford Clyne sealed gold after a marathon 15-13, 21-19, 11-7 victory against Samantha Cornett. While the women fulfilled their top seeding, the 3/4 seeded US men had to put in two breakthrough performances against respective gold and silver medal favourites Mexico and Colombia. Score in the semi-final was 1 match apiece when team debutant Andrew Douglas stepped up in the biggest match of his career to date, coming back from 2-1 down against former world No. 35 Alfredo Avila to punch Team USA's ticket to its first ever men's team final. The final against second seeds Colombia had a similar rhythm - Todd Harrity losing to Rodriguez and Chris Hanson equalizing courtesy of a win over Juan Camilo Vargas - and Douglas sealed the historic result by defeating Andres Felipe Herrera. Chris Hanson praised his teammate for his mature performances in high pressure situations. “I am still in utter shock,” he said. “I wish I had his composure when I was twenty. It's just unbelievable what he did tonight and what we've done as a team. I'm speechless.”

Source: PSA World Tour

Team USA will not forget the 2019 Pan Am Games (Photo credit: US Squash)

Washington DC will welcome 23 nations at the Men's World Team Championship

Defending champions Egypt are likely to be favourites for the 2019 WSF Men's World Team Squash Championship title in December when the USA hosts the biennial World Squash Federation event for the first time in its 52-year history in Washington DC. 23 nations will compete in the 26th edition of the championship which will be held, under the auspices of US Squash, at Squash On Fire, the new state-of-the-art membership-free eight-court facility in the U.S. capital from 15-21 December. Hosts USA will be joined by teams representing Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong China, Ireland, Jamaica, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland & Wales. USA will be making their 23rd consecutive appearance in the championships since 1973. The 2019 hosts finished in 10th place in the 2017 championship in Marseille, France – where Egypt claimed the title for the fourth time, beating defending champions England in the final. South American interest will be led by Colombia, featuring 2018 British Open champion Miguel Rodriguez, who will be making only their third appearance in the championship – as will Republic of Korea, who last competed in 2011. Whilst 1987 runners-up New Zealand and eight-time champions Australia are two nations which have competed in all previous 25 events, Jamaica will be celebrating only their second appearance after making their debut two years ago in Marseille. The 2019 championship will also be marking the long-awaited returns of Nigeria and Singapore, who last battled for the men's title in 1999 and 1997, respectively. Since its launch in 1967 in Australia, the Men's World Team Championship has been staged in 12 countries – including Canada in 1977 – but never before in the USA.

Source: PSA World Tour

Egypt won the Men's World Team Championship in France in 2017 (Photo credit: PSA World Tour)

On the other hand, two major nations will not be attending the event - 6-time champion Pakistan and India. The local media called it "the darkest day in the history of Pakistan squash" and the Federation made this tough decision allegedly because of insufficient results and commitment from its players. India's case is different, as the SRFI (Squash Rackets Federation of India) did not receive clearances from the SAI (Sports Authority of India) on time, and the 15-day deadline extension was rejected by the World Squash Federation (WSF).

--- August World Rankings

Unsurprisingly there were very few changes in the new PSA World rankings published on the 1st of August. Welshman Makin, 24, rises one spot and swaps places with Omar Mosaad in the only move in an otherwise unchanged top 20 spearheaded by Egypt’s Ali Farag, who makes it six months at World No.1. Mohamed ElShorbagy (No.2), Tarek Momen (No.3), Karim Abdel Gawad (No.4) and Germany’s Simon Rösner round out the top five. In the women's, Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy has broken into the top 20 for the first time in her career. The 20-year-old from Alexandria leaps ahead of England’s Millie Tomlinson and Emily Whitlock to break the top 20. Egypt’s Raneem El Welily tops the World Rankings for a ninth consecutive month ahead of Nour El Sherbini (No.2), Camille Serme (No.3), Nouran Gohar (No.4) and Nour El Tayeb (No.5). 

Source: PSA World Tour

August PSA World rankings (Photo credits: PSA World Tour)

August squash hotspots

--- The Women's World Junior Team Championship starts on Monday in Malaysia. Winner of the 6 last events, and with 3 semi-finalists of the individual tournament in its squad, Egypt are huge favourites and it's almost impossible to imagine that they won't add another title to their collection. Home country Malaysia and England will try and mount a challenge, while other possible contenders for a medal are USA and Hong Kong.

Ryan Cuskelly will open his 2019/2020 campaign in Houston next week (Photo credit: PSA World Tour)

Ryan Cuskelly will be the first top 20 player back in action after the summer break, at the Life Time Houston Open ($30,000) next week. If things go according to seedings, Australian number 1 will meet Campbell Grayson in the semis and Arturo Salazar in the final. Later in August, Wien will host the European Masters Individual Championships, and a potential clash between former professional players Alex Garbi and Piedro Schweertman in the over 35 final should be the highlight of the week.