Ireland have finished 12th in the women’s team section at the World Squash Junior Championships in Cairo, with the men’s team ending their campaign in 20th place.
It was a frustrating conclusion results-wise for the 15th seed women as their performance on Thursday against 14th-ranked South Africa, who went on to secure a 10th place finish, was excellent and the 1-2 outcome cruel.
Ella Erickson got the team off to a flyer with her 3-0 win and after Zeo Yeomans went down fighting in a 1-3 loss, Ella Walsh produced a heroic effort before losing a five-game thriller 2-3.
That left Ireland facing an 11th/12th place match on Friday versus New Zealand (No.9 seed), and the tie was clinched 3-0 by the Kiwis after 0-3 losses for Erickson, Yeomans and Slade.
Meanwhile, the 17th-ranked Ireland junior men’s team wrapped up with a 0-2 loss against Kuwait, the No.20 seed. Danny Lynch and Christian Dromgoole were both defeated 0-3 and the Aaron Knox match didn’t go ahead with the result already decided.
On Thursday, a very competitive Irish team were pipped 1-2 by the 13th-ranked Switzerland. The hard-working Lynch went down 0-3, but an impressive 3-0 effort from Christian Dromgoole saw the fixture go all the way. Conal Jackson, though, lost out 0-3 in the deciding match.
WOMEN’S JUNIOR 9/16 RESULTS:
Friday – Ireland (No.15 seed) LOST 0-3 v New Zealand (No.9 seed)
Ella Erickson lost 0-3 (11-13, 8-11, 6-11) v Ella Hill
Zeo Yeomans lost 0-3 (3-11, 1-11, 4-11) v Anabel Romero Gemmell
Riley Slade lost 0-3 (5-11, 9-11, 0-11) v Aria Bannister
Thursday – Ireland (No.15 seed) LOST 1-2 v South Africa (No.14 seed)
Ella Erickson WON 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-7) v Dene Van Zyl
Zeo Yeomans LOST 1-3 (13-15, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11) v Makayla Naidoo
Ella Walsh LOST 2-3 (11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11) v Chante Leppan
MEN’S JUNIOR 13/22 RESULTS:
Ireland (No.17 seed) v Kuwait (No.20 seed)
Danny Lynch lost 0-3 (5-11, 5-11, 9-11) to Khaled Walead Al Fouzain
Christian Dromgoole lost 0-3 (11-13, 2-11, 1-11) v Abdul Rahman Al Sanea
Aaron Knox DNP v Abdulrahman Alkandari
Ireland (N0.17 seed) LOST 1-2 v Switzerland (No.13 seed)
Danny Lynch lost 0-3 (5-11, 11-13, 2-11) v Fabian Seitz
Christian Dromgoole won 3-0 (13-11, 12-10, 11-9) v Michael Von Aesch
Conal Jackson lost 0-3 (5-11, 5-11, 8-11) v Leandro Vogel
