[Full results and draw]

PAKISTANIS, EGYPTIANS, MALAYSIANS DOMINATE

Little Pakistani Aamir Atlas Khan revealed what a precocious squash talent he is in entering the fourth round of the Prince 14th world junior men’s squash championships in the New Zealand city of Palmerston North.

Khan will not be 16 till July 30, two days after the championships finish, yet he ended day two of the individual event having conceded just five points in two matches. After a first round bye he overwhelmed Todd Harrity, of the United States 9-1 9-1 9-1, and in the last 32 he outplayed gangly unseeded Briton Adrian Waller 9-0 9-0 9-2 in 22 minutes.

Ramy Ashour (r) Charges through today's play in rapid fashion. Photo 2006 © New Zealand Squash.

When one looks at Khan’s pedigree it is hardly surprising. The great Jansher Khan is his uncle, and given Pakistan’s and his family’s tradition in the game Khan said it was a given he should play squash to the best of his ability.

In his two matches he showed a wonderfully stylish and mature technique for one so tender in years, and precise movement, which left his opponents grasping.

It remains to be seen though how much of a test he will be to the top seed and defending champion, Ramy Ashour, of Egypt, who has quickly become a crowd favourite with his likeable personality, strong command of English, and awesome skill. Ashour, who will be 19 in October, is significantly older, and hardened by regular exposure to the professional circuit.

On day three Khan will meet Dutchman Tom Hoevenaars, seeded 17th to 32nd, for a place in the quarterfinals after the latter held off unseeded Egyptian Mohamed El Shorbagy 9-2 9-3 1-9 6-9 9-4.

Another Pakistani through to the last 32, fifth to eighth seed Farhan Mehboob, can also claim Jansher as his uncle.

A relaxed Ashour toyed with his opposition on day two, blowing away his Indian second round opponent Vikram Malhotra 9-0 9-3 9-2 in a mere 19 minutes, and Ireland’s Rory Byrne, seeded 17th to 32nd, 9-1 9-0 9-1 in 16 minutes. But the expectant gallery saw enough to convince them this young man is something special. He was never under pressure, toying with his opposition with obvious relish.

Against Malhotra most of the five points he conceded were probably the result of being a little casual, hardly surprising when your opposition is so clearly outclassed.
It was like a man playing a boy. It was much the same against Byrne, who looked overawed by the bounding Ashour, whose speed of thought, breathtaking touches, and court craft left the gallery eager for more.

Though four Canadians, Keith Pritchard, David Letourneau and David Glass, and unseeded Colin West reached the third round, the last 32, it was not such a happy day for those from the United States. Trevor McGuinness, who was seeded 17th to 32nd, Todd Harrity, and David Canner were all eliminated, the latter 27 love by Pakistani Farhan Mehboob.
The left-handed McGuiness, a 17 to 32 seed, provided limited opposition for unseeded Malaysian Chee Wern Yuen, losing 9-4 9-0 9-2 in 32 minutes, and rarely able to take control of a rally. Harrity had the unenviable task of tackling precise Pakistani Aamir Atlas Khan, and managed to collect just three points.

Though Pritchard had a comfortable second round win Letourneau, West and Glass survived only after fierce battles. Letourneau was down two games to one against Indian Naresh Kumar before winning the fourth 9-3.

However, he trailed 6-0 and 7-5 in the fifth, and seemed to benefit from the ball breaking at an advanced stage. His fitness and superior match plan when it mattered most were evident as he won 9-1 8-10 8-10 9-3 9-7 in 79 minutes.

Glass recovered from a two game deficit to claw his way past Japan’s Yuta Fukui 8-10 5-9 9-7 9-6 9-3 in 81 minutes. Having won an exacting 56 minute first round match against Australian Zac Alexander though it was only of three games, West had a more arduous time before prevailing 9-5 2-9 2-9 9-3 9-1 after 67 minutes against 17 to 32 seed Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, of India.

Unfortunately the news was not so good in the third round with all four players losing but Pritchard did not go without a fight losing to Malaysian Kam Hing Choong 9-46-9 8-10 9-2 9-6 in 55 minutes.

The biggest marathon of the first two rounds was that between Hong Kong’s Leo Au, and Malaysian Muhammad Asyraf Azan, a nine to 16 seed. The unseeded Au refused to buckle, taking 100 minutes to finally subdue Azan 9-10 10-9 3-9 9-2 10-8.

Worryingly the host country, New Zealand, made little impact on day two, its players generally out of their depth. No one made it past the second round. National coach Dave Clarke defended its position, saying given the players’ relative youth, and inexperience it was about as expected with its squad seeded 12th for the teams’ event.

Egypt's El Shorbagy joins Ashour and two other Egyptians in the round of 16 . Photo 2006 © New Zealand Squash.

He said New Zealand would be better prepared in Switzerland in 2008 with two team members, Evan Williams and Lui Syder, still eligible then, and others competing in the individual championship young enough to qualify for the 2010 championships.

“Our guys are pretty young here, and two years can make such a difference in terms of development and physical maturity,” Clarke said. “You only have to look at some of the 18-year-olds here. In some cases they are young men playing against boys.”

Clarke, who had previously considerable coaching success in England, acknowledged a need for greater exposure at international level, and moves were being made to secure the necessary funding. Of late the players’ international experience has been limited to playing in Australia.

So many of the leading countries are there because they have been prepared to embark on programmes and spend money in developing players, which has included a lot of international competition. A number of those in the last 32 are seasoned international campaigners

As New Zealand’s No 1 player Williams, said: “I’ve only been to Australia.”

[Full results and draw]

Championship Round 3
Ramy Ashour(EGY) beat Vikram Malhotra(IND)    9-0 9-3 9-2
Rory Byrne(IRL) beat Edward Dromgool(NZL)    9-0 9-6 9-1
Keith Pritchard(CAN) beat Craig Farrell(NZL)    9-1 9-1 9-1
Choong Kam Hing(MAS) beat Chris Tasker-Grindley(ENG)    10-8 3-9 5-9 9-4 10-8
Farhan Mehboob(PAK) beat David Canner(USA)    9-0 9-0 9-0
Norman Junge(GER) beat Reiko Peter(SUI)    9-5 9-2 9-6
Elvinn Keo(MAS) beat Matthew Nation(NZL)    9-0 10-9 9-5
Colin West(CAN) beat Harinder Pal Sandhu(IND)    9-5 2-9 2-9 9-3 9-1
Simon Rösner(GER) beat Christopher Lloyd(NZL)    9-1 9-0 9-3
Parth Sharma(IND) beat Benjamin Fischer(SUI)    0-9 10-8 9-4 6-9 9-1
Bilal Zaman(PAK) beat Richard Colburn(RSA)    9-0 9-1 5-9 9-6
Nathan Stevenson(AUS) beat Josh Larkin(AUS)    9-7 9-3 9-7
Tarek Momen(EGY) beat Lance Beddoes(NZL)    9-1 9-0 9-0
Pyry Poikolainen(FIN) beat Byron Peehi-Floyd(NZL)    9-3 9-1 9-6
Sandeep Jangra(IND) beat Bastiaan Meulenbelt(NED)    9-6 9-8 9-0
Tom Pashley(ENG) beat Randy Lim(MAS)    9-6 9-4 9-2
Rudi Willemse(RSA) beat Josh Thom(NZL)    9-1 9-3 8-10 9-4
Nicolas Mueller(SUI) beat Omar Tarek Mahm Aly(EGY)    9-5 6-9 9-1 9-6
Sander Kock(NED) beat Mikael Siren(FIN)    9-0 9-3 9-3
Yasir Butt(PAK) beat Florian Silbernagl(GER)    9-2 9-0 9-0
James Snell(ENG) beat Rex Hedrick(AUS)    9-1 9-2 5-9 5-9 10-8
Leo Au(HKG) beat ohd Asyraf Azan(MAS)    9-10 10-9 3-9 9-3 10-8
David Letourneau(CAN) beat Naresh Kumar(IND)    9-1 8-10 8-10 9-3 9-7
Omar Mossad(EGY) beat Aaron Fyfe(AUS)    9-2 9-1 9-2
Ivan Yuen(MAS) beat Trevor McGuinness(USA)    9-4 9-0 9-2
Joe Lee(ENG) beat Ramit Tandon(IND)    9-3 9-2 9-1
Dave Glass(CAN) beat Yuuta Fukui(JPN)    8-10 5-9 9-7 9-6 9-3
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda(EGY) beat Conor O'Hare(IRL)    9-1 9-0 9-3
Tom Hoevenaars(NED) beat Keegan Burkhart(NZL)    9-3 9-0 9-0
Mohamed El Shorbagy(EGY) beat Max Lee(HKG)    9-5 9-5 3-9 9-4
Adrian Waller(ENG) beat Matt Reece(AUS)    9-1 7-9 9-5 10-9
Aamir Atlas Khan(PAK) beat Todd Harrity(USA)    9-1 9-1 9-1
 
Championship Round 4
Ramy Ashour(EGY) beat Rory Byrne(IRL)    9-1 9-0 9-1
Choong Kam Hing(MAS) beat Keith Pritchard(CAN)    9-4 6-9 8-10 9-2 9-6
Farhan Mehboob(PAK) beat Norman Junge(GER)    9-0 9-1 9-4
Elvinn Keo(MAS) beat Colin West(CAN)    10-8 9-0 9-5
Simon Rösner(GER) beat Parth Sharma(IND)    9-0 9-2 6-1
Bilal Zaman(PAK) beat Nathan Stevenson(AUS)    9-0 9-3 9-1
Tarek Momen(EGY) beat Pyry Poikolainen(FIN)    9-5 9-0 9-4
Tom Pashley(ENG) beat Sandeep Jangra(IND)    9-5 9-5 9-1
Nicolas Mueller(SUI) beat Rudi Willemse(RSA)    9-1 9-6 9-7
Yasir Butt(PAK) beat Sander Kock(NED)    9-1 10-9 9-6
James Snell(ENG) beat Leo Au(HKG)    3-9 7-9 9-3 9-3 9-3
Omar Mossad(EGY) beat David Letourneau(CAN)    9-3 9-1 9-6
Joe Lee(ENG) beat Ivan Yuen(MAS)    9-7 9-4 9-0
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda(EGY) beat Dave Glass(CAN)    9-0 9-4 9-1
Tom Hoevenaars(NED) beat Mohamed El Shorbagy(EGY)    9-2 9-3 1-9 6-9 9-4
Aamir Atlas Khan(PAK) beat Adrian Waller(ENG)    9-0 9-0 9-2
 
Plate Round 2
Petteri Siren(FIN) beat Joel Boman(AUS)    9-1 9-1 9-0
Christopher Callis(USA) beat Brad Kemp(AUS)    9-0 9-0 9-2
Manek Mathur(IND) beat James Skiffington(NZL)    9-1 9-0 9-2
Karri Salonen(FIN) beat Tatsuya Shinkubo(JPN)    10-8 9-1 9-2
Richard Dodd(RSA) beat Ammar Al -Tamimi(KUW)    Walkover
Evan Williams(NZL) beat Karim Dabaah(ENG)    Walkover
Zac Alexander(AUS) beat Fung J Yang(HKG)    9-6 9-2 9-3
Frank Hartkoren(NED) beat Christopher Plimpton(USA)    9-5 4-9 10-8 8-10 9-5
Andrew McDougall(CAN) beat Nathan Kam(AUS)    9-5 9-1 9-4
Alex Ingham(ENG) beat Cameron Jamieson(NZL)    9-1 9-1 9-0
Bumpei Kawano(JPN) beat Jordan Wagstaff(NZL)    9-3 9-3 9-6
Alexander Jury(AUS) beat Shamlan Mohammed(KUW)    Walkover
Tim Cowell(AUS) beat Ainsley Gannaway(ZIM)    9-0 9-1 9-2
Alan Tsang(HKG) beat Cameron Morris(AUS)    9-7 9-1 9-4
Todd Ruth(USA) beat Alex Grayson(NZL)    9-4 9-0 9-4
Hisham Saleh(KUW) beat Parthiba Ayyappann(IND)    Walkover
Reed Endresen(USA) beat Chris O'Kane(IRL)    9-6 9-6 9-4
Conor Matson(NZL) beat Aaron Cusick(AUS)    9-4 9-4 9-1
Mark Froot(USA) beat Luke Gordon(NZL)    9-0 9-5 9-7
Wian Louwrens(RSA) beat James Meyer(NZL)    9-1 9-0 9-0
Matiu Tekani-McQueen(NZL) beat Luke Sims(AUS)    9-10 9-5 10-8 9-5
Bryce Redman(NZL) beat Curtis Harrison(NZL)    Walkover
Shinnosuke Tsukue(JPN) beat Zardeen Wazir(ZIM)    9-1 9-5 9-4
Charles Veerkamp(NED) beat Aatos Mannroos(FIN)    9-7 10-8 9-7 9-6
Peter Taylor(AUS) beat Omar Al  Jamaan(KUW)    Walkover
Jason Cole Niven(RSA) beat Wesley Cusick(AUS)    9-1 9-0 9-1
Livio Catenazzi(SUI) beat Lui Syder(NZL)    Walkover
Carsten Schoor(GER) beat Deepesh Patel(ZIM)    9-4 9-2 9-3
Simon O'Shaughnessy(NZL) beat Ravi Dixit(IND)    9-4 9-4 7-9 4-9 9-6
Mithran Selvaratnam(MAS) beat Mathew Durda(AUS)    9-6 9-2 5-9 9-4