Egyptians Dominant In Chennai World Junior Championships

With six players through to the women's quarter-finals and three lining up in the last eight of the men's tournament, Egypt is taking a commanding position in the World Junior Squash Championships after today's second day of action in the first World Squash Federation championships to combine both men's and women's events simultaneously.

Domestic interest in the championships at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, India, is now led exclusively by Dipika Pallikal, the 17-year-old from Chennai who is seeded to become the country's first ever world squash champion. The firm favourite in the women's championship, Pallikal followed an 11-1, 11-7, 11-7 third round win over New Zealander Lana Harrison by beating Egypt's unseeded Yathreb Adel, aged just 13, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.

"It's great to be playing in Chennai, but of course there's a lot of pressure and expectation," Pallikal told www.squashsite.co.uk/worldjuniors after her fourth round win. "When I get on court I just think about the match, and I know that if I play better I'll win, I try to cut out all of the distractions.

"I feel I'm getting better every match, so hopefully I can carry on playing well until the end," added the Indian star who wrapped up her two matches today in just 41 minutes of playing time.

Pallikal will now face another Egyptian for a place in the semi-finals. Fifth seed Nouran El Torky, from Alexandria, defeated Malaysian Nessrine Ariffin, a 9/16 seed, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-6.

Whilst the seeding predicted three of Egypt's quarter-finalists, two reached the last eight after sensational upsets. 16-year-old Salma Hany, a 9/16 seed, defeated seventh seed Olivia Blatchford - a 16-year-old world junior and senior US international - 11-8, 17-15, 11-8, while Nour El Sherbini, also a 9/16 seed, battled for 42 minutes to overcome Malaysia's 17-year-old No6 seed Low Wee Nee 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 9-11, 11-3.

"I made a good start, then lost concentration - I just fell asleep," admitted Nour El Sherbini, aged just 13. "Thankfully I woke up for the fifth, and played best of all in that game!"

Egypt's Mohamed El Shorbagy took a further step in his bid to become only the second player in history to successfully defend the men's title by beating unseeded Mexican Miled Zarazua 11-7, 11-7, 11-6.

"It's going well," said the 18-year-old from Alexandria, who already boasts a place in the senior PSA world top 20 rankings. "I played better today than yesterday, that's what you have to do in these tournaments, so hopefully I'll improve again tomorrow.

"There's pressure of course, but Anthony Ricketts gave me a few tips on how to cope with it, and it seems to be working well so far."

El Shorbagy will now face German Raphael Kandra, a 9/16 seed who ended the run of 15-year-old giant-killer Nasir Iqbal, beating the Pakistani 3-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10.

A Mexican lost out in the only upset in the men's quarter-finals when Pakistan's Aurangzeb Mehmund survived a 70-minute battle against fifth seed Alfredo Avila. The 16-year-old from Lahore's 11-6, 12-10, 7-11, 5-11, 13-11 victory takes the 17/32 seed into a quarter-final clash with France's Lucas Serme.

Men's 3rd round:
[1] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) bt Miled Zarazua (MEX) 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (22m)
[9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [17/32] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 3-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10 (42m)
[8] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 10-12, 12-10 (62m)
[4] Andrew Wagih Shoukry (EGY) bt [9/16] Lucas Vauzelle (FRA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 (31m)
[9/16] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [17/32] Nosherwan Khan (PAK) 11-2, 11-7, 12-10 (44m)
[17/32] Aurangzeb Mehmund (PAK) bt [5] Alfredo Avila (MEX) 11-6, 12-10, 7-11, 5-11, 13-11 (70m)
[6] Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) bt [17/32] Antoine-Camille Petrucci (FRA) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (30m)
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [9/16] Chris Fuller (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 (50m)

Women's 4th round:
[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt Yathreb Adel (EGY) 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 (22m)
[5] Nouran El Torky (EGY) bt [9/16] Nessrine Ariffin (MAS) 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (33m)
[4] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [9/16] Samantha Cornett (CAN) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (20m)
[9/16] Salma Hany (EGY) bt [7] Olivia Blatchford (USA) 11-8, 17-15, 11-8 (47m)
[8] Maria Toor Pakay (PAK) bt Elizabeth Eyre (USA) 12-10, 11-2, 11-8 (28m)
[9/16] Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (EGY) bt [17/32] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 15-13, 11-6, 11-5 (33m)
[9/16] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [6] Low Wee Nee (MAS) 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 9-11, 11-3 (42m)
[2] Heba El Torky (EGY) bt [9/16] Anwesha Reddy (IND) 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 (18m)