Quarter-Finals : Aifa and Lewis join six Egyptians in the semis

Egyptian trios advance to World Junior semis in KL

Quarter-finals day at the WSF World Juniors in Kuala Lumpur saw the action move to the all Glass court in the Nicol David Arena in the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil, with six Egyptians – as predicted by the seedings – advancing to the semi-finals.

It will be left to Malaysia’s own Aifa Azman and England’s unseeded Lewis Anderson to see if they can prevent two all-Egyptian finals.

The first match of the day saw second seed Jana Shiha go 4-10 down to USA’s Marina Stefanoni before recovering to take the match in four games.

Shiha faces familiar opponent Aifa Azman in the semis after the Malaysian favourite fulfilled her 3/4 seeding with a straight games win over England’s Elise Lazarus.

Malaysia lost out to Egypt in the next match as 3/4 seed Farida Mohamed battled back froma game down to beat Chan Yiwen in an often physical encounter.

Top seed Hania El Hammamy ensured that there would be at least one Egyptian finalist as she beat Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk in three games, two of them going to extra points. Hammamy will appear in her fourth successive WJ semifinal when she takes on Mohamed on Saturday.

The men’s matches started with an all-Egyptian clash in which second seed Omar El Torkey reached a second successive semifinal with a straight games win over Yehia Elnawasany.

That semifinal will be an all-Egyptian affair after 3/4 seed Mostafa Elserty beat England’s Sam Todd in four close games.

English success soon followed though when unseeded Lewis Anderson created a third successive upset in beating India’s Asian Junior champion Veer Chotrani in straight games – shrugging off nerves when his 10-2 lead in the final game was reduced to 10-7.

Top seed and defending champion Mostafa Asal is waiting for Anderson in the semis, the Egyptian easing past Malaysia’s Siow Yee Xian in three comfortable games.