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Men's World Junior Championships 2008
27-Jul to 01 Aug, Zurich, Switzerland
Team
Event |
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01-Aug-08, Final:
[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt
[1] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) 2/9, 9/3, 10/8, 9/4
(75m)
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Shorbagy succeeds Ramy as
World Junior Champion
After despatching local hero Nicolas Mueller in a marathon
semi-final, second seed Mohamed El Shorbagy went on to upset
Pakistan favourite Aamir Atlas Khan in the final of the World
Junior Men's Squash Championship in Zurich to keep the prestigious
title in Egyptian hands for the third successive time.
It was a dramatic climax to the 15th staging of the biennial World
Squash Federation championship, being held for the first time in
Switzerland.
Khan, a semi-finalist in 2004 and 2006 - and, at No24, the
highest-world-ranked player in the field - was firm favourite to win
the title. The 18-year-old had reached the final without dropping a
game, and victory would have made him the first Pakistani to lift
the title since his uncle, the legendary Jansher khan, in 1986.
But El Shorbagy was also hungry for success - and survived both his
opponent and the naturally partisan crowd to topple Swiss star
Nicolas Mueller in five games less than 24 hours earlier.
The 17-year-old from Alexandria, who reached a career-high world
ranking of 60 today, dropped the first game for just two points but
powered back into the match before ultimately claiming victory after
75 minutes.
El Shorbagy follows the now 20-year-old world No4 Ramy Ashour as
winner of the title - and is the latest in a distinguished line of
former Egyptian champions including Ashour, Karim Darwish, Ahmed
Faizy and the country's first winner, in 1994, Ahmed Barada.
Egypt are seeded to win the Team Championship which gets underway on
Saturday, at six different venues around Zurich.
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"This is a very special moment, I'm very happy to be here and share
it with my mother and father. I was 8-5 up in the third and had to
make a big push.
"This was a once in a lifetime chance and I told myself to make a
big push.
"The last two titles have been won by Egypt and there was a lot of
pressure on me to win it.
"Aamir and I will probably have to play again in the team match - it
will be another hard match and I need to go away and prepare
mentally for it."
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More from Mohamed ...
 "It's
really such a great moment for me to win it, I have been dreaming of
winning this title since I was 10 years old really.
"Today the court wasn't hot so I was really happy about that because
yesterday's match took a lot of energy out of me. In the first game
I was really trying to win every point without thinking but at the
end of that game I started to be more patient and I knew from then
on that is the way that I should play with.
"From the second I started to be a lot more patient, especially on
his backhand, and just waiting for his mistakes. After this game I
knew that I couldn't play all the match like that even though I knew
it was working well, because that type of game takes lots of energy
and I know myself that I would get tired, so I started from the
third being as well patient and waiting for his mistake but I added
to my game that I have to kill my ball as well to finish the point
by myself.
"That was really working until I was 8/5 up, but at this moment I
was really dying and when he got back to 8/8 I just said to myself
that I really need to push myself really hard because this match
just happens once in your life.
 "After
winning that game I told Ahmed el Matany that I was going to leave
the next game and prepare for the last because I was really tired,
but he told me that he was really tired too and I had to push. And
when I was leading 5/2 I just forgot that I was tired and told
myself to be strong mentally and he was starting to make mistakes.
"I was really waiting for this match for a long time and I am really
glad to win it. I was talking to Jonah everyday and since I moved to
England I've been working with Jonah a lot with my movement on court
and how important it is, and at the same time he taught me what is
the meaning of being strong mentally and that's what I really needed
today, being strong mentally, so I would like to really thank him so
much.
"I have been training very hard before this tournament, I played
with Shabana and Darwish and Ramy and I would really like to thank
them so much for playing with me because playing with them it's a
different experience. I also played with Omar Abdel Aziz a lot
because his game is very similar to Aamir's so his game was really
helpful for me. I trained with Amir Wagih before this tournament and
he really concentrated with me on my length and my width. For my
physical side I had a really tough month of training with Dr. Talha.
"Since I've been in Zurich my national coach Ahmed el Matany was
talking to me a lot, he really understands how to prepare his player
mentally before matches and after matches and gives you lots of
confidence and makes you believe that you can win, and he really can
read the other player very quickly, so really thanks so much, he was
really helpful for me during all my matches in the tournament, and
also the advices of Magdy Saad.
"Now we will start the team matches, another tournament to
concentrate on and I hope that we can make it to go back with team
title to keep it in Egypt for the second time in a row."
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Confirmed Team
Seedings: 1 EGYPT, 2 PAKISTAN, 3 ENGLAND, 4 FRANCE, 5 INDIA, 6
MALAYSIA, 7 GERMANY, 8 HONG KONG, 9 NEW ZEALAND, 10 CANADA, 11
AUSTRALIA, 12 USA, 13 SOUTH AFRICA, 14 SWITZERLAND, 15 KUWAIT, 16
WALES, - and, 17/24: FINLAND, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, BELGIUM,
NETHERLANDS, GUATEMALA, SPAIN and SWEDEN; and 25/31: IRELAND,
BERMUDA, CAYMAN ISLANDS, CHINA , ECUADOR, ITALY and VENEZUELA. |
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31-Jul-08,
Semi-Finals:
[1] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt [5/8] Waqar Mehboob (Pak)
9/1, 9/1, 9/6 (40m)
[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [3] Nicolas Mueller (Swi)
9/7, 9/10, 9/4, 1/9, 9/5 (67m)
Top Two to contest World Final
Top seeds Aamir Atlas Khan and Mohamed El Shorbagy
will contest the world junior final in Zurich after contrasting
semi-finals wins at the Vitis Club. Khan, one day after his 18th
birthday, won his all-Pakistani clash with Waqar Mehboob in straight
games. Shorbagy took on local favourite Nicolas Mueller, eventually
winning in five games to secure his place in the final.
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30-Jul-08,
Quarter-Finals:
Waqar downs
Marche as
top three reach the semis ...
The top three seeds will
contest tomorrow's semi-finals, with a Pakistani finalist guaranteed
after Waqar Mehboob scored an upset win over European Champion Greg
Marche ...
[1] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt [5/8] Andrew Wagih (Egy)
9/1, 9/5, 9/0 (36m)
[5/8] Waqar Mehboob (Pak) bt [4] Gregoire Marche (Fra)
9/6, 8/10,
9/5, 9/0 (74m)
[3] Nicolas Mueller (Swi) bt [5/8] Adrian Waller (Eng)
9/5, 4/9,
9/3, 9/2 (58m)
[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [9/16] Ivan Yuen (Mas)
9/5, 9/3, 9/1 (30m) |
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 29-Jul-08:
Down to the Quarters ...
The shock defeat of 5/8 seed
Joe Lee in this morning's matches apart, it will be the top seeds
who contest the quarter-finals of the Junior World Championship in
Switzerland.
Top seeds Aamir Atlas Khan and Mohamed El Shorbagy are
both yet to drop a game after four matches in two days. Khan, who
celebrates his 18th birthday tomorrow, faces Egypt's 5/8 seed
Andrew Wagih while Shorbagy meets Ivan Yuen, the 9/16 seed from
Malaysia who beat Lee's conqueror Farhan Zaman to claim a
place in the quarters.
Home favourite Nicolas Mueller, who has played all four of
his matches on the centre court where he is yet to drop a game,
meets the last remaining Englishman, Adrian Waller.
European champion Gregoire Marche meets Pakistan's Waqar
Mehboob, but it was been a tough day for the Frenchman, who won
his first match of the day in 68 minutes before coming back from 2-0
down against Amr Khalid Khalifa, eventually prevailing after 80
minutes.
Last 16 Results
Last 32 Results
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Live Main Draw
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 Vikram
stretches Shorbagy
Indian Update from Cyrus Poncha
Vikram Malhotra is known for his flair and stylish play and when
on song he plays absolutely brilliant squash. This is exactly what
happened today in the pre-quarterfinal against the no. 2 seed and
tournament favourite Mohd. El Shorbagy of Egypt. Vikram had Shorbagy
on his back foot on several occasions, in fact Vikram had a 5-0 lead
in the first game.
Shorbagy, known for his aggressive style of play, did not relent and
fought back to take the first game 9-7. Vikram continued with a game
that comprised deception, floating lobs, medium paced drives and
overhead smashes in to the front corners and every time when it
appeared that Vikram was on his way to win the game, Shorbagy hung
on to take it away from the grasp of Vikram.
This happened in all the three games as Vikram went down fighting
9-7, 9-7, 9-7 in 34m.
Earlier, in the round of 32, Vikram easily defeated Antione-Camille
Petrucci from France fairly 9-3, 9-7, 9-1 in 35m while Aditya
Jagtap, who has had an impressive run so far and one who will be
eligible for the World Juniors in two years, could not match up with
his more experienced opponent, 9/16 seed Herik Mustonen from
Finland, going down 0-9, 0-9, 6-9 in 32m.
The players now have a few days off and are gearing up for the team
championships which commence on Saturday.
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28-Jul-08:
A busy day
...
A busy day in Zurich with two
rounds of action as the field is reduced to the top 32. The
morning's third round saw all the top seeds safely through
and two minor upsets as James Earles and Keagan Burkhart
(who also won his evening match) both overcame 17/32
seeds.
The evening action saw some further upsets and a few marathon
matches. A further five 17/32 seeds fell, with France's Lucas
Serme beating Kelly Shannon in 83 minutes to set up a meeting
with top seed Aamir Atlas Khan. More French marathons saw Lucas
Vauzelle fall to Patrick Rohrmuller, in 93 minutes, while
Antoine Camille Petrucci beat his seeded opponent in 55 minutes.
Four victories in two days propelled South African qualifier
Paul Rodriguez into the last 32, who faces the prospect of
another two matches tomorrow after 118 minutes on court today ... |
Qualifying Draw & Results
Team News
We'd love to receive news, updates, photos, videos from as many
teams as possible ...
wj@squashsite.co.uk
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Vikram and Aditya move into last 32
Indian Update from Cyrus Poncha
Vikram Malhotra cruised to the round of 32 after defeating
young Fahad B. Al-Ramezy from Kuwait and Joshua Larkin from
Australia in straight games. Vikram had no problems in both matches
and will be up against Petrucci Camille from France tomorrow.
Aditya Jagtap joined Vikram in the round of 32 but had to dig
deep to overcome a determined Frederick Reid from Canada who used
his volleys and drops to telling effect against the lanky Aditya who
gave every ounce of his energy. It was Aditya’s sheer guts and great
tactical play that saw him go through to the next round after 52min.
Earlier in the morning, Aditya had another good win defeating Jo Wen
from Malaysia in a hard fought four games.
Karan Malik came up against Joe Lee of England. Though he
lost it must be said Karan put up a brave fight. Yet again
Abhishek Pradhan had a sterling performance as he went down
fighting to Australian team member Joshua Larkin in a hard five
setter. Abhishek had match ball in the third by scuttling and
scurrying around the court and picked up all the balls throw by
Joshua. As the match went longer Abhishek’s lost his rhythm and
Joshua caught Abhishek often on his wrong foot.
Ravi Dixit, Paramit Singh and Mahesh Mangaonkar
won their morning matches in straight games but were unable to win
their evening matches against higher ranked opponents.
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Good opening for India
Cyrus Poncha reports
A
good start to Day one for the Indian contingent at the 15th World
Junior Squash Championships being held at Zurich, Switzerland.
Karan Malik started the day’s proceeding in emphatic style
against Luke Sims from Australia, playing very steadily using his
reach extremely well to win in straight games 9-4, 9-4, 9-2.
Ramit Tandon went on next against Ahmed El Mehelmy from Egypt
who was better than him. Ahmed was bigger in size and also proved to
be superior in his fighting abilities winning both the first and
second game after being 3-6 and 2-7 down.
In both instances Ramit failed to capitalise on this lead and wore
himself down as the game progressed. The final game was one sided
with the Egyptian winning.
Once again in the evening round two match Karan used his reach to
outmanoeuvre his opponent from USA, Adam Perkiomaki for a 3-0
victory.
Fifteen year old Abhishek Pradhan, going to court for the
first time in the afternoon having received a walk over in the
morning, came up against fourteen year old Oliver Holland from
England. Oliver was marginally better than Abhishek and had
stretched Mahesh Mangaonkar to five games at the German Junior
earlier this year.
Today Abhishek was fully charged up, was aggressive and retrieved
everything that was thrown at him and whenever an opening arose put
the ball away beautiful in the front. There were some high quality
rallies by both juniors with Abhishek finishing the ball with some
delightful drops. An outstanding performance by Abhishek and
certainly the match of the day for the Indians.
Mahesh Mangaonkar our youngest member of the squad at
fourteen also moved into the second round without playing a match.
He came up against Ryan Mcconvey from Cayman Islands and easily
handled the token resistance to win 3-0.
Vikram Malhotra, Aditya Jagtap, Ravi Dixit &
Paramit Singh start their campaign tomorrow.
It was an excellent move by the SRFI to expose both youngsters
Mahesh and Abhishek at the individual event in this tourney as they
are not only gaining much valuable experience and exposure playing
top opponents but getting to see what really is in store for them in
a couple of years.
 "Looking
at what is in display here I am convinced a top four position is
definitely on the cards in 2010."
consultant coach – SRFI |
The Big Screen ...
A simple yet novel introduction was carried out at the opening
ceremony of the 15th WJM Championship.
After a welcoming address by Tournament Director Michael Muller
each of the teams were invited to send a representative to the stage
as the names of the countries were called whilst concurrently using
a Google application, the flag and map of the county appeared on a
large screen.
It was unique presentation format which the participants enjoyed.
This into was preceded by a modern dance performance by the Cool
& Clean Co. who showed through their dance, sporting moments.
This 15 min dance was energetic, vibrant & fun to watch.
Eventually the WSF, Technical Director Peter Koeck declared
the championship open.
Indian Results:
Round 1
Karan Malik [IND] bt Luke Sims [AUS] 9-4 9-4 9-2; Mahesh Mangaonkar
[IND] w/o Shedara Femi [NGR]; Abishek Pradhan [IND] w/o Alain Mudeen
[CAY];
Ramit Tandon [IND] lost to Ahmed El Mehelmy [EGY] 9-6 9-7 9-1
Round 2
Karan Malik [IND] bt Adam Perkiomaki [USA] 9-5 9-6 9-5;
Mahesh Mangaonkar [IND] bt Ryan Mcconvey [CAY] 9-2 9-4 9-0 ; Abishek
Pradhan [IND] bt Oliver Holland [ENG] 9-5 9-5 9-5
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In the Papers
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Team News
We'd love to receive news, updates, photos, videos from as many
teams as possible ...
wj@squashsite.co.uk |
Khan & Shorbagy top seeds
Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan has been nominated as top seed in
the 2008 World Junior Men's Squash Championship, in which a record
163 players from 37 countries will compete in Zurich from 28 July to
1 August.
The biennial World Squash Federation event will be followed in the
Swiss city by the World Junior Men's Team Championship, from 2-7
August. With teams for the first time from the Cayman Islands,
China, Ecuador and Guatemala, the team championship boasts a record
entry of 32 nations.
China, hosts of the 2008 Olympic Games, are making notable progress
in the world of Squash: The nation made its international debut in
the World Junior Women's Championships in Hong Kong in 2007 after
hosting its maiden Tour event in Shanghai in 2004.
A semi-finalist in the individual championship in 2004 and 2006,
Aamir Atlas Khan will be hoping that it will be third time lucky in
Zurich. The 17-year-old from Peshawar faces New Zealander Lui Syder
in the 128-man third round draw.
If successful, Khan would become only the third Pakistani to win the
title - but the first since his legendary uncle Jansher Khan lifted
the trophy in Australia in 1986, before going on to win the senior
World Open crown for a record eight times!
Egyptian Mohamed El Shorbagy, also 17, is the No2 seed, while
Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller and Frenchman Gregoire Marche -
who contested the 2008 European Junior Championship final - are
third and fourth seeds, respectively.
Nicolas Mueller will lead home interest in the event. The
18-year-old from Hirzel, near Zurich, became the first Swiss player
to win the European Junior title in 2007.
With the top four seeds reflecting the strength of squash in Asia,
Africa and Europe, Pan American interest in the event will be led by
USA's Todd Harrity and Canadian Kelly Shannon - both 17/32 seeds -
while Oceanian eyes will be on New Zealander Evan Williams and
Australians Matthew Hopkin and Jacob Alexander, also 17/32 seeds.
As a result of the unprecedented entry list, two early 'feed-in'
rounds have been introduced - with most team players entering the
fray at the third round stage.
Marche & Shorbagy |
Aamir Atlas Khan
2006 Event |
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18-Jul-08:
Egypt seeded to
retain team title
Egypt are seeded to retain their title in the 2008 World Junior
Men's Team Squash Championship in Switzerland according to the
interim seedings revealed today.
A record 32 nations - including the Cayman Islands, China, Ecuador
and Guatemala for the first time - will contest the biennial
championships in Zurich from 2-7 August, following the World Junior
Men's Individual Championship, which runs from 28 July to 1 August.
The final seeding order will be decided on semi-finals day of the
Individual Championship after the final squad submissions are lodged
that day - and thereafter the draw will be made.
The young Egyptian squad will be led by Mohamed El Shorbagy, the
17-year-old world No62 from Alexandria. But Egypt will undoubtedly
face tough opposition from Pakistan, winners of the title in 2002
and 2004 and provisionally named as second seeds in 2008.
Pakistan will be led by Aamir Atlas Khan, the world No23 from
Peshawar who celebrates his 18th birthday during the individual
championships - in which he has been nominated as top seed.
England, winners of the title three successive times between 1996
and 2000, are the third seeds, while Malaysia are the No4 seeds.
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Full Interim Seeding:
1 EGYPT, 2 PAKISTAN, 3 ENGLAND, 4 MALAYSIA,
5 FRANCE, 6 HONG KONG, 7 INDIA, 8 GERMANY,
9 AUSTRALIA, 10 NEW ZEALAND, 11 CANADA, 12 SWITZERLAND,
13 USA, 14 FINLAND, 15 SOUTH AFRICA, 16 WALES -
17/24 (in alphabetic order): BELGIUM, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK,
IRELAND, KUWAIT, NETHERLANDS, SPAIN
25/32 (in alphabetic order): BERMUDA, CAYMAN ISLANDS, CHINA ,
ECUADOR, GUATEMALA, ITALY, NIGERIA and VENEZUELA.
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"I
am really happy to win this match because I had lots of pressure on
it, and he had lots of support and the crowd was with him. 
