Siblings Savannah and Maddox Moxham, of Belgium, both reached the quarter-finals of the World Junior Championships in Canada.
No.1 seed Mohamad Zakaria and India’s No.1 seed Anahat Singh also reached the last eight after winning in three games.
The Moxham siblings are the children of former pro players, ex-Belgian international Katline Cauwels and Aussie Shaun Moxham, who now run the M Squash high performance squash academy in New York.
There were a number of upsets involving the top-eight seeds, with India’s Aryaveer Dewan [5/8] losing to the USA’s Yaseen Shalaby in straight games, Brazil’s Laura Silva [5/8] falling short against Malaysia’s Whitney Wilson, and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Alnasfan reaching the last eight with a victory over England’s Dylan Roberts [5/8] in a five-game thriller.
And on the glass court at White Oaks Resort & Spa, there was another upset among the top eight, with Malaysia’s Nickhileswar Moganasundharam [5/8] being eliminated by the determined Maddox.
Despite taking the lead in the opener, winning 14-12, Moxham was unable to replicate the same resilient form against the Malaysian in the second and third games, losing both 11-2 and 11-7.
However, despite losing the previous two games, Moxham showed great determination to claw himself back into the contest, winning the fourth 11-4.
And with momentum back on his side of the court, the Belgian was able to reignite his pursuit of the World Junior title, claiming the fifth and final game 11-7.
“It was a long match, and I am happy to pull through,” Moxham said after his match.
“I have never beaten him [Nickhileswar Moganasundharam] before, so I am happy to come out with the win. Today was about sticking to my game plan, and I thought that it worked in the first, but I strayed from it in the second, and in the third, I thought that I had a little momentum back, but he was still taking control of the game.
“So, I had to believe that what I had was going to push me through and carry me forward, and that ended up happening. I am looking forward to the next match, but I’m taking it one step at a time.”
Moxham will face Egypt’s Seifeldin Refaay [3/4], who progressed to the last eight after a straight-game victory over Spain’s Oriol Salvia Ripoll.
Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, Egypt’s Habiba Rizk beat the USA’s Charlotte Sze in a four-game battle, and Belgium’s Savannah Moxham came from behind to beat Hong Kong, China’s Ena Kwong 3-1.
Savannah, the European Junior U19 Championship runner-up in March, has been no.1 in Europe in the U15 rankings and no.1 in America at U11, U13, U15s, U17. She won the US Junior Open U15 title in 2022, the European Junior Open U15 in 2023 and the Portuguese Junior Open U19 in 2022, as well as ESF the European Team Championships U15 in 2022.
“Living in America gives me numerous opportunities to further both my squash and education,” she told European Squash. “I am proud to be Belgian and have Australian heritage [through her father] and I enjoy being able to represent my home country.”
World Squash Junior Individual Championships – Quarter-final Women’s Draw
13:00 – [3/4] Barb Sameh (EGY) v [5/8] Helen Tang (HKG)
15:00 – [3/4] Malika Elkaraksy (EGY) v [5/8] Savannah Moxham (BEL)
17:00 – [1] Anahat Singh (IND) v [5/8] Habiba Rizk (EGY)
19:00 – [2] Ruqayya Salem (EGY) v [9/12] Whitney Wilson (MAS)
World Squash Junior Individual Championships – Quarter-final Men’s Draw – (GMT-4)
14:00 – [3/4] Seifeldin Refaay (EGY) v [9/12] Maddox Moxham (BEL)
16:00 – [3/4] Marwan Assal (EGY) v [5/8] Amir Khaled-Jousselin (FRA)
18:00 – [1] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) v [9/12] Yaseen Shalaby (USA)
20:00 – [2] Adam Hawal (EGY) v [9/12] Mohammed Alnasfan (KSA)