In the Shadow of the Olympics
Aug 16, 2004, By Ron Beck; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004

[individual draw]

108 Juniors Gather in Pakistan

While the world's attention is squarely focused on the 2004 Summer Olympics, in full swing in Athens, Greece, the Squash World, which again finds itself "out in the cold" during the Olympics, strangely has scheduled its world junior men's events to coincide exactly with the Olympics, not a move likely to assist in garnering publicity for the event.

108 of the worlds finest juniors gathered in Pakistan this weekend in advance of the event which begins Tuesday. This year, for the first time in many sessions, top Squash Journalist Martin Bronstein will not be in attendance. Bronstein cited safety and cost reasons for his decision not to attend.

Meanwhile, in a first for India Squash, India's Saurav Ghosal has been selected as top seed in the Men's World Junior Individual Championship which takes place in Islamabad, Pakistan, from 17-22 August.

The 18-year-old from Chennai was the surprise winner of the British Junior Open title in January - and, if successful in Islamabad, would become the first Indian winner of the World Junior crown since the inaugural biennial event in 1980.

Ghosal is expected to face Pakistan's 3/4 seed Farhan Mehboob, the Asian Junior Champion, in the semi-finals, en-route to a meeting with No2 seed Khalid Atlas Khan, also from Pakistan, in the final.

The line-up of the last 32, once two rounds have been played, according to the seedings, is projected to be:

[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [17/32] Mohd Adnan (MAS)
[9/16] Basit Ashfaq (PAK) v [17/32] Michael Auer (CAN)
[9/16] Andrew Budd (AUS) v [17/32] Jens Schoor (GER)
[5/8] Tom Richards (ENG) v [17/32] Dick Lau (HKG)
[5/8] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [17/32] Steven Robinson (AUS)
[9/16] James Wright (ENG) v [17/32] Arturo Salazar (MEX)
[9/16] Christopher Gordon (USA) v [17/32] Sebastian Weenink (NED)
[3/4] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) v [17/32] Muhammad Azfar Azan (MAS)
[3/4] Mahmoud Adel (EGY) v [17/32] Ahmed El Swaify (EGY)
[9/16] Campbell Grayson (NZL) v [17/32] Kristen Johnson (SCO)
[9/16] Simon Rosner (GER) v [17/32] Lewys Hurst (WAL)
[5/8] Yasir Butt (PAK) v [17/32] Ali B Al-Ramzi (KUW)
[5/8] Chris Simpson (ENG) v [17/32] Vikas Jangra (IND)
[9/16] Mohamed Anwar (EGY) v [17/32] Kevin Brechbuhl (SUI)
[9/16] Robin Clarke (CAN) v [17/32] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[2] Khalid Atlas Khan (PAK) v [17/32] Craig Heath (ZIM)

At least a few upsets can be counted on to shuffle this order.

Saurav Ghosal (l) hopes to parlay his recent strong PSA showings into world juniors success. photo ©2004 India Squash

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