Roshdy & Cheung Stun #2 & #3/4 Seeds While Hosts Egypt Create New World Junior Championships Record

On a historic day at the WSF World Junior Championships in Cairo, Egypt's Adham Roshdy and Hong Kong's Tsz Ching Cheung recorded two huge shocks to reach the last eight, while hosts Egypt became the first nation ever to claim six places in the event's men's quarter-finals.

In front of a packed crowd at Black Ball Sporting Club in Cairo, 9/16 seed Roshdy fought back from 1/2 down to take out the 2024 runner-up Jooyoung Na, the No.2 seed from South Korea, while Cheung stunned the home crowd as she too came from behind to record a thrilling five-game win over Egyptian 3/4 seed Jana Swaify.

Na took the squash world by storm last year in a run that included the prize scalp of 2023 champion Hamza Khan, but hopes of a repeat were brought to a brutal end by a determined Roshdy performance.

The Egyptian, whose father and coach Mabrouk coached national legend Nour El Sherbini, took a shock opening game lead with an 11-9 win.

Na looked to have steadied things when he edged into the lead with a pair of 11-9 wins, only for Roshdy to roar back 11-5 in game four.

With the crowd whipped into a frenzy by Roshdy's heroics, the 18-year-old dominated game five, holding his nerve to seal a memorable victory with an 11-7 win before celebrating wildly.

That win for Roshdy, alongside victories for No.1 seed Mohamad Zakaria, 3/4 seeds Marwan Asal and Eiad Daoud, and 9/16 seeds Adam Hawal and Seif Refaay, meant Egypt marked a new milestone, becoming the first nation to have six representatives in the quarter-finals of the men's event.

The two non-Egyptians in the men's quarter-finals will be Colombian 5/8 seed Juan Irisarri and USA's 5/8 seed Christian Capella, with Irisarri coming back from a game down to beat USA's Jack Elriani and Capella doing the same to overcome Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Alnasfan.

In the women's draw, Cheung, too, helped her nation record a new milestone as Hong Kong will have two representatives in the quarter-finals for the first time after Cheung's shock win and Ena Kwong's 3/0 victory over Scotland's Robyn McAlpine.

Cheung's clash with Swaify, played on the spectacular all-glass court, appeared to be heading to seeding when the Egyptian - who is already playing on the professional circuit - dominated the opening game 11-2.

Cheung went on the attack in game two, avoiding building rallies and focusing instead on firing in winners.

This proved effective, with Cheung accurate and able to disrupt Swaify's rhythm as she silenced the crowd by levelling with an 11-5 win and then pulled ahead 11-8.

Cheung's accuracy dipped as she sensed a famous win, and Swaify took the match into a fifth game with an 11-8 victory.

Cheung wasn't to be denied though, and she rattled off quick-fire winners to take game five 11-4 and seal a famous result.

The 17-year-old will face 5/8 seed Sohayla Hazem in the quarter-final after the Egyptian cruised past Canada's Ocean Ma.

"This feels like a dream come true!" Cheung said afterwards.

"I wasn't expecting to beat her today, and I did it! I'm very happy. But I didn't feel nervous at all because her seeding was way higher than mine. Now I feel confident in my own performance and ability and I'm going to fight to get into the semi-final!"

Elsewhere in the women's draw, matches went to seedings, with Egypt's Amina Orfi, Nadien Elhammamy and Malika Elkaraksy, India's Anahat Singh and France's Lauren Baltayan all booking their places in the last eight.