Top seed Jonah Bryant falls but Sam Todd marches on
By DONNA HELMER – Squash Mad Correspondent
Pakistan, Egypt and Team USA sprung major upsets on day two of the Dunlop British Junior Open 2020 in Birmingham.
After surviving a scare earlier in the day against Qatar’s [17/32] Yousef Farag, BU15 top seed Jonah Bryant (Sussex) fell victim to Pakistan’s [9/16] Muhammad Ammad 14-12, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8 in a topsy-turvy five-game affair.
Another Englishman departed later in the boys under 15s when [3/4] Abdallah Eissa was out-hussled by Hong Kong’s [9/16] Jat Tse in a fractious match 4-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 before second seed Muhammad Hamza Khan brought back memories of former Pakistani greats with a sweet straight-games victory over Egypt’s [9/16] Omar Azzam.
Meanwhile, in the BU17 category, there were upsets abound with Egyptian [17/32] Ahmed Ismail dispatching Malaysian second seed Muhammad Amir Amirul Azhar 14-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8 and Pakistan’s [9/16] Noor Zaman ousting [3/4] Egyptian Karim El Torkey 3-1.
Team USA caused further shocks as [17/32] Hollis Robertson also moved into the BU15 quarter-finals with a 3-1 defeat of [9/16] Antonin Romieu of France, while [9/16] Thomas Rosini stunned BU19 [5/8] Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim in straight games.
And in the GU15s, the Americans were at it again as [17/32] Emma Trauber edged past Egypt’s [3/4] Noor Megahed 7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9 to reach the last eight.
There were no such troubles for the top seeds in the BU19 – imposing Egyptian Moustafa El Sirty dwarfing England’s Simon Herbert in both stature and on the scoreboard in a 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-5) triumph before countryman [2] Yahya Elnawasany sealed a last-eight spot by beating Pakistan’s [9/16] Haris Qasim in a fiendishly fast and skillful last match, both players changing shirts before the final game after 20 minutes of high-paced action. Meanwhile, the final match of the day saw Czech [5/8] Viktor Byrtus stop a comeback from England’s [9/16] Ben Smith 12-10 in the fourth.
Girls Under 19 top seed Jana Shiha of Egypt survived a first-game wobble against Dutch Junior Open champion [9/16] Fleur Maas to prevail 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-3. Meanwhile, [2] Malaysian hope Aifa Azman made light work of England’s [9/16] Evie Coxon. Egypt’s [5/8] Malak Mostafa saved a clutch of match balls in the third before completing a comeback against Swiss [9/16] Ambre Allinckx that ensured the GU19 was the only draw with the top eight seeds intact.
English under 17 boys top seed Sam Todd again appeared completely untroubled during another straight games victory while girls favourite Aira Azman of Malaysia won again in three as did Egypt’s [2] Sana Ibrahim.
Egypt saw five players in both the boys and girls under 13 draws through to the last eight, with boys top seed Mohamed Zakaria seeing off England’s [9/16] Jude Gibbins 3-0 while female counterpart Amina Orfi eased past American [9/16] Samantha Jaffe 3-0 to set up an all-Egypt quarter-final with [9/16] Jomana Shebab.
Girls under 13 second seed Janna Galal set up a last eight clash with France’s [5/8] Lauren Baltayan and boys second seed Youssef Salem will be on his guard against the unseeded Pakistani surprise package Abdullah Nawaz, who completed a second straight 3-0 win over a [17/32] opponent after his opening day shock win against USA’s [5/8] Christian Capella.
In the boys under 11s, [9/16] Omar El-Tabbakh of Egypt put another home hope to the sword by taking down [3/4] George Griffiths 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 12-10. In total, five Egyptians will feature in the quarter-finals, including second seed Yassin Kouritam, [3/4] Seif Belal El Shal and [9/16] Yassin Azouz who will meet Malaysian top seed Jayden Oon.
In the GU11, unseeded American Layla Gupta continued her dream run to the last eight where she will face Egyptian [3/4] Maya Mandour, while top seed Jana Mohamed of Egypt sailed into Saturday alongside [2] England’s Mariam Eissa.
The Dunlop British Junior Open 2020 continues today. Watch live streaming via englandsquash.tv
Tournament website:
www.britishjunioropen.com
Pictures by Steve Cubbins courtesy of England Squash