Ireland will feature in two Consolation Plate round of 8 matches in Cairo on Friday after Danny Lynch and Ella Walsh progressed in the World Squash Junior Championships.
Lynch reached the quarter-finals in Cairo with two accomplished 3-0 wins on Thursday to book his clash against Raphael Ferraro of Switzerland.
Walsh, meanwhile, shrugged aside her recent stomach bug to also win her Thursday match 3-0 and set up a meeting with Yeeun Seo of Korea.
Irish interest in the Special Plate ended with the round of 16 exits for Aaron Knox and Christian Dromgoole against Hong Kong China opponents, while Conal Jackson’s appearance on the all-glass show court resulted in a 0-3 Plate round of 16 loss to Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan.
Nathan Hann exited the Consolation Plate round of 32 with a 0-3 loss, but Frank O’Flynn won his match in the same round, defeating Macau’s Keng In Leong in a five-game thriller. His Consolation Plate round of 16 match was lost 1-3, though.
Riley Slade, the eighth Irish player in action on Thursday, fell to a 0-3 Consolation Plate round of 16 loss.
RESULTS AND FIXTURES (all Irish start times – add two hours for local Cairo time)
BU19
Christian Dromgoole
Special Plate round of 16: Lost 1-3 (6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 6-11) versus Long Hin Larry Wong of Hong Kong China
Nathan Hann
Consolation Plate round of 32: Lost 0-3 (3-11, 3-11, 6-11) versus Fergus Hill of New Zealand
Conal Jackson
Plate round of 16: Lost 0-3 (5-11, 7-11, 4-11) versus Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan
Aaron Knox
Special Plate round of 16: Lost 0-3 (4-11, 10-12, 10-12) versus Wing Kuen Wong of Hong Kong China
Aaron Knox
Special Plate round of 16: Lost 0-3 (4-11, 10-12, 10-12) versus Wing Kuen Wong of Hong Kong China
Danny Lynch
Consolation Plate round of 32: Won 3-0 (13-11, 11-2, 11-7) versus Abdulrahman Alkandari of Kuwait
Consolation Plate round of 16: Won 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-2) versus Ian Miguel De Sousa of Macau
Consolation Plate round of 8: Plays Raphael Ferraro of Switzerland at 8:45am on Friday
Frank O’Flynn
Consolation Plate round of 32: Won 3-2 (11-5, 10-12, 14-12, 7-11, 11-9) versus Keng In Leong of Macau
Consolation Plate round of 16: Lost 1-3 (11-6, 8-11, 3-11, 2-11) versus Joshua Rahul Raj of Australia
GU19
Riley Slade
Consolation Plate round of 16: Lost 0-3 (6-11, 3-11, 4-11) versus Nia Seren Thomas of Wales
Ella Walsh
Consolation Plate round of 16: Won 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-4) versus Lok Long Huang of Macau
Consolation Plate round of 8: Plays Yeeun Seo of Korea on Friday at 8am
With all players well settled in Cairo and a routine established, morale was high, writes junior performance coach David Noone.
Paying particular attention to avoiding certain food types and being extra careful with water consumption, navigating breakfast correctly was important. The hotel provided good food, but the breakfast left a lot to be desired. Not a coffee machine in sight… but it did the job.
At the Black Ball club, there were designated staff dispensing bottles of chilled water – a nice touch. There were lots of complaints from the huge entourage of American coaches about the warm climate, and giant air conditioning units were installed. Another nod to the hospitality of the Egyptian people, trying to deliver the best event possible.
The Irish team cared solely about their squash, and they gave due attention to each match, preparing as best they could. A very professional bunch.
Christian Dromgoole had two matches, his first in the title round of 64 against an Indian seed. With good structure to his game and tough to break down, Yusha Nafees proved too strong for Christian, but he wasn’t too far away in a lot of areas.
His second match, in the Super Plate round of 32, was a humdinger against the South Korean, Chanyoung Kim. This went the distance, and Christian put enough work into the legs of his opponent that he was cramping in his quads from 8-6 onwards in the fifth game. Christian pushed super hard to make sure he closed out the match and got an impressive win under his belt.
Nathan Hann played Darcy Hayes of Australia. Needing a little physio work from Breanne Flynn just to get him on court, Nathan started the match with a strained neck. It wasn’t ideal, but he fought valiantly and did much better as the match progressed. It was a tough loss.
Conal Jackson got a Plate round of 64 walkover on Tuesday from South Africa’s Juan-Corne Brand, who rolled an ankle.
This was the worst feeling, as you don’t want to travel all this way to Egypt and not play, but he made up for it on Wednesday with a massive performance to come from 0-2 down against Mika Von Aesch of Switzerland to claim a 3-2, five-game victory. This very gutsy effort keeps him playing and keeps the challenges coming.
Aaron Knox lost his second-round title match to an impressive Indian player. Arihant KS had an attacking style of squash, with exceptional racket head speed, and he pushed the ball to the front left relentlessly.
Aaron struggled early on, but his tempo got higher as the match grew, creating a good battle, and the 0-3 loss was a good show. He backed up his performance on Wednesday with a solid 3-0, Special Plate round of 32 win against Samuel Winkler.
Danny Lynch played a fit and solid South African in his Plate opener, and a nail-biter of a first game went Danny’s way 12-10. Momentum looked like it was swaying towards him, but Judah Phillips somehow turned the tables and neutralised Danny. It was a bit of a shock 3-1 loss, but Danny fought hard and will have a chance of redemption on Thursday.
Frank O’Flynn played Maximus Mathews, a Kiwi as tall as himself, and it left little space around the centre of the court. There were some top-quality exchanges from the two, and it could have gone either way. Frank has shown so many signs of improvement, and he put in a fine display of quality squash. It wasn’t to be this time in a 0-3 loss, but he will be back at it on Thursday.
Riley Slade played the Canadian, Salma Hassan, who was close to 6ft and could hit the ball as hard as anyone in the event. It was a somewhat daunting task for Riley in this Plate match, but she was remarkably resilient, fighting hard in every point and growing into the game. But it wasn’t to be as she lost in three.
Ella Walsh, what a warrior. Even though she was our first player to show signs of some Cairo sickness, she decided to play. Her Russian neutral athlete opponent, Maria Spirina, was a quality ball striker who fiercely contested every point.
This match had the makings of a five-setter, and it went all the way. Ella held off her stomach illness as best she could to fight all the way. Pushing hard on every rally, she won the appreciation of her watching teammates before losing valiantly in the fifth.
Zoe Yeomans had the quickest turnaround on day one, with two matches played. One day, two she faced an impressively accurate and casual Canadian, Tsz Ling Alyssa Ho, who had a wicked serve and seemed to be able to place the ball in the right area almost every time.
She was a very tough opponent, but this didn’t stop Zoe from troubling her in each game before losing 0-3, arguably an unjust scoreline for the quality of the performance.
Ireland enjoyed a wonderful Wednesday at the World Squash Junior Championships, with all three matches won in the BU19 section. There was also a courageous five-game defeat for the battling Ella Walsh in the GU19.
Aaron Knox and Christian Dromgoole, who were both eliminated on Tuesday from the main title competition at the round of 64, hit back strongly in the Special Plate section.
Knox was a deserving 3-0 winner over Samuel Winkler of Austria, and he will return to the court for a round of 16 match with Wing Kuen Wong of Hong Kong China on Thursday.
Dromgoole will also face a Hong Kong China opponent, Long Hin Larry Wong, following his exciting 3-2 win over the Korean, Chanyoung Kim.
Conal Jackson completed the perfect BU19 afternoon for Ireland with his 3-2 Plate win over Mika Von Aesch of Switzerland.
Down 0-2, he roared back to take the victory that booked him a Thursday clash with Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan that will be played on the Black Ball’s main glass court.
In the GU19 Plate round of 32, Walsh arguably produced the Irish performance of the day as she battled a stomach issue to take Maria Sprinina to five games before losing 2-3.
Riley Slade was beaten 0-3 by Salma Hassan of Canada, also in the Plate round of 32.
RESULTS AND FIXTURES (all Irish start times – add two hours for local Cairo time)
BU19
Christian Dromgoole
Special Plate round of 33: Won 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8) v Chanyoung Kim of Korea.
Special Plate round of 16: Plays Long Hin Larry Wong of Hong Kong China on Thursday at 9am
Nathan Hann
Consolation Plate round of 32: Plays Fergus Hill of New Zealand on Thursday at 8:20am
Conal Jackson
Plate round of 32: Won 3-2 (6-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5) v Mika Von Aesch of Switzerland
Plate round of 16: Plays Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan on Thursday at 10:30am
Aaron Knox
Special Plate round of 32: Won 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 13-11) v Samuel Winkler of Austria
Special Plate round of 16: Plays Wing Kuen Wong of Hong Kong China on Thursday at 9am
Danny Lynch
Consolation Plate round of 32: Plays Abdulrahman Alkandari of Kuwait on Thursday at 7:40am
Frank O’Flynn
Consolation Plate round of 32: Plays Keng In Leong of Macau on Thursday at 7:40am
GU19
Riley Slade
Plate round of 32: Lost 0-3 (3-11, 5-11, 8-11) to Salma Hassan of Canada
Consolation Plate round of 16: Plays Nia Seren Thomas of Wales on Thursday at 12noon
Ella Walsh
Plate round of 32: Lost 2-3 (11-6, 8-11, 5-11, 11-6, 3-11) to Maria Spirina [AIN]
Consolation Plate round of 16: Plays Lok Long Huang of Macau on Thursday at 12noon
Zoe Yeomans
Finished with her Special Plate round of 32 versus Tsz Ling Alyssa Ho [17/32] of Canada on Tuesday
Ireland’s interest in the BU19 World Squash Junior Championships title ended on Tuesday with Aaron Knox and Christian Dromgoole both eliminated in the round of 64.
Knox and Dromgoole had enjoyed confident starts at the tournament on Monday, respectively winning their round of 128 matches 3-1 and 3-0 to set up round two matches with Indian duo Arihant KS and Yusha Nafees, who were both 17/32 seeds.
Knox was first in action on Tuesday, and he suffered a 0-3 loss to Arihant in a match where the prize for the winner was a round of 32 clash with No.1 seed Mohamed Zakaria. The Egyptian is the defending junior champion from Houston 2024 and is ranked 14th on the PSA men’s tour.
Zakaria defeated Samuel Winkler of Austria 3-0 in his first match at the tournament and then beat Arihant 3-0 later in the day. Knox will now play the Austrian on Wednesday in the Special Plate section.
Dromgoole, meanwhile, was beaten 0-3 in his round of 64 clash with Yusha Nafees, denying him a round of 32 showdown with the Colombian, Juan Irisarri [5/8]. Next is a Special Plate fixture on Wednesday against Chanyoung Kim, the Korean beaten 1-3 by Irisarri.
In the Plate competition, Ireland endured a difficult Tuesday as Danny Lynch was beaten 1-3 and Nathan Hann and Frank O’Flynn lost 0-3 in their matches. Conal Jackson had his fixture cancelled as his opponent rolled an ankle. The upside was that Jackson progressed to the next round with a walkover.
There was just one GU19 player in action on Tuesday, Zoe Yeomans losing her Special Plate match 0-3.
RESULTS AND FIXTURES (all Irish start times – add two hours for local Cairo time)
BU19
Christian Dromgoole
Round of 64: Lost 0-3 (6-11, 7-11, 3-11) to Yusha Nafees [17/32] of India
Round 2 Special Plate: Plays Chanyoung Kim of Korea at 1pm on Wednesday
Nathan Hann
Plate round of 64: Lost 0-3 (0-11, 3-11, 1-11) to Darcy Hayes of Australia
Consolation Plate round 1: Plays Fergus Hill of New Zealand (TBC)
Conal Jackson
Plate round of 64: Match cancelled versus Juan-Corne Brand of South Africa
Plate round of 32: Plays Mika Von Aesch of Switzerland at 11:40am on Wednesday
Aaron Knox
Round of 64: Lost 0-3 (1-11, 9-11, 6-11) to Arihant KS [17/32] of India
Special Plate round 2: Plays Samuel Winkler of Austria at 12:20pm on Wednesday
Danny Lynch
Plate round of 64: Lost 1-3 (12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 4-11) to Judah Phillips of South Africa
Consolation Plate round 1: Plays Abdulrahman Alkandari of Kuwait (Time TBC)
Frank O’Flynn
Special Plate round 2: Lost 0-3 (6-11, 4-11, 6-11) to Maximus Mathews of New Zealand
Consolation Plate round 1: Plays Keng In Leong of Macau (Time TBC)
GU19
Riley Slade
Plate round of 32: Salma Hassan of Canada at 9am on Wednesday
Ella Walsh
Plate round of 32: Plays Maria Spirina [AIN] at 9:40am on Wednesday
Zoe Yeomans
Special Plate round of 32: Lost 0-3 (4-11, 2-11, 3-11) to Tsz Ling Alyssa Ho [17/32] of Canada
The calendar has been released for the 2025/26 squash season in Ireland, with Conor Moran and Hannah Craig set to defend their Senior National titles at Fitzwilliam on February 6th-8th.
Moran, the PSA squash tour’s current 170th rank, defeated top Irish seed Sam Buckley, the PSA’s 120th rank, in a five-game thriller in the 2025 final five months ago.
Presently ranked 62nd on the PSA women’s list, Craig secured a straight-game victory over Breanne Flynn, the No.141 PSA player, in her final.
Meanwhile, the PSA Irish Open, where the 2025 highlight was Moran’s 3-1 men’s section win over Jeremias Azana, the Argentinian ranked 76th by the PSA, will again take place at Fitzwilliam next May from the 19th to the 23rd.
Melvil Scianimanico of France (placed 62nd on the PSA list) and Tesni Murphy of Wales (the PSA No.21) were crowned champions at the Open sponsored by Cannon Kirk Gillenmarkets.
The early part of the new season features a PSA Satellite men’s tournament on August 9th-10th and a women’s event on September 4th-6th, both hosted by Fitzwilliam.
The Dublin club is also the venue for the All-Ireland Club finals on May 9th, with the Senior Interprovincials booked in at a Munster venue on March 14th-15th, two weeks earlier in the calendar than in 2024/25. The Five Nations has also moved forward by a week to April 10th-12th to avoid Easter.
Elsewhere, the Irish Masters Nationals will take place at Fitzwilliam on February 27th-28th. Before that, the Leinster Masters Open has moved to Novvember 7th-8th, the Connacht Masters Open to December 5th-6th and the Ulster Masters Open to January 30th-31st.
The Junior Nationals are scheduled for Cork on February 13th-15th, the Junior Interprovincials have moved to March 7th-8th (they were held in April in 2024/25), and the Munster Junior Open has moved to November 29th-30th.
On the club front, the Mount Pleasant Open has moved back a week in the calendar to January 17th-18th.
Ireland arrived in Cairo on Friday for the World Squash Junior Championships and were met with super friendly staff directly off our flight, writes junior performance coach David Noone.
We were made to feel very welcome as they navigated us through a hectic airport with long visa queues and got us to our hotel. We have a pool and spacious rooms with plenty of areas to relax in. As tournament hotels go, this is nice!
The event is being played in the Black Ball Sporting Club, a massively impressive venue set off a giant motorway-style road in New Cairo. The entrance is super plush and opens onto a gigantic gallery behind a beautiful glass court. There are 17 courts in total, the glass and 16 courts surrounding it.
The whole club is centred around the show court – and it’s massive. It needs to be to support such a huge event; the men’s and women’s draws have 221 players from around the world, with only the best of each country being represented.
The first week is the individual section, and the second week the teams. For the individuals, Ireland have six boys and three girls. For the team, we have four boys and four girls.
This event will be long and bodies will be tested to the max, but this is an amazing tournament and an unbelievable opportunity for the top Irish juniors to mix with the world’s best.
The individual event kicked off on Monday, and first up was Riley Slade. In a close match against Hana Al Nayal of the Netherlands, the games could have gone either way. Errors were the deciding factor, and Riley made just a few too many. But there was plenty to build on in the 0-3 loss for the Mount Pleasant player.
Ella Walsh faced a tricky French opponent, Leelou Laporte. Anything loose was skilfully put away, but Ella was playing some great squash. Once settled, she pushed very hard, especially in the second game, which she could have won. The third ran away from her a little but, despite losing 0-3, this was a good showing for her first match.
Zoe Yeomans played Anna Musikhina, a neutral athlete from Russia. In quite a tough match, she prevailed and won 3-0 to set up an encounter with the seeded Pole, Sofiia Zrazhevska.
Zoe played to her potential in the first game, fighting hard and contesting every point. There were some very high-quality exchanges, but the opening game slipped away in the end. The next two games weren’t as close, but it was still a very spirited performance and one to be proud of despite the 0-3 score.
In the men’s section, Danny Lynch and Conal Jackson were very unfortunate to draw players seeded very high. Danny played Ollie Dunbar, the Kiwi who had produced some spectacular results on the pro tour this season, beating players ranked in the top 60. He is expected to go deep here too.
Danny produced some very mature squash, testing Dunbar throughout the contest. Some very good pressure was applied, with great shot selection in an all-round top performance. It was a 3-0 loss, but one where he can be proud of the performance.
Conal played Maddox Moxham, a class act. He was the runner-up in the European Junior Championships this year and plays at a very high level, another seeded player.
Not too dissimilar to Danny’s match, Conal took it to his opponent and created a real tough duel. There was some excellent squash from the Suttonian, who showcased his ability to compete with the best in this 0-3 loss. There was plenty of learning, but plenty of belief gained too.
Aaron Knox faced the unseeded Bernado Dias, and a thundering start exposed the somewhat weak technique of the Brazilian. Aaron didn’t relent, taking a two-game lead. He lost the third but rallied strongly to clinch it in four. He now faces a seeded player from India, Arihant KS, on Tuesday in the round of 64.
Christian Dromgoole took on Saudi Arabian player Salem Almwled. It was plain sailing for the most part and although slightly troubled in the second game, Christian’s quality was much higher. Great confidence was gained in the 3-0 win, and he now plays Yusha Nafees of India on Tuesday.
Nathan Hann had a tough Hong Kong player, Tsun Hei Mak, to deal with. Showing great speed and skill, Nathan struggled to contain his opponent and found the rallies tough going.
There were moments of great squash from Nathan, for sure; building consistency into rallies was when he played best. But it wasn’t to be in a 3-0 loss. Frank O’Flynn also lost out on the same score, going down to Shiven Agarwal of India.
An Ireland-India rivalry has ignited at the World Squash Junior Championships as the two Irish BU19 round of 128 winners in Cairo face Indian opposition on Tuesday morning.
Aaron Knox and Christian Dromgoole both advanced to the second round of the men’s individual event in Egypt with comfortable victories on Monday.
Knox defeated Brazilian Bernado Dias 3-1 and Dromgoole saw off Saudi Arabian Salem Almwled 3-0. Their reward is matches versus Indian players seeded 17/32.
Arihant KS is Knox’s opponent at the Black Ball at 7:40am Irish time with Dromgoole due on court 80 minutes later to battle Yusha Nafees.
Ireland’s other round of 128 winner was Zoe Yeomans in the GU19. She secured a 3-0 victory over Anna Musikhina of Russia.
However, unlike Knox and Dromgoole in the BU19 section, she didn’t get to sleep on her win as she was back in action later on Monday in her GU19 round of 64 match. Up against Sofiia Zrazhevska, the 17/32 seed from Poland, Yeomans lost out 0-3.
Riley Slade and Ella Walsh were both eliminated from the GU19 at the round of 128 stage following 0-3 losses, while Danny Lynch, Frank O’Flynn, Conal Jackson and Nathan Hann were also beaten 0-3 in their BU19 round of 128 matches.
RESULTS AND FIXTURES (all Irish start times)
BU19
Christian Dromgoole
Round of 128: Beat Salem Almwled of Saudi Arabia 3-0 (11-6, 12-10, 11-4)
Round of 64: Plays Yusha Nafees [17/32] of India at 9am on Tuesday
Nathan Hann
Round of 128: Lost to Tsun Hei Mak of Hong Kong China 0-3 (2-11, 2-11, 3-11)
Plate round of 64: Plays Darcy Hayes of Australia at 12:20pm on Tuesday
Conal Jackson
Round of 128: Lost to Maddox Moxham [17/32] of Belgium 0-3 (6-11, 4-11, 3-11)
Plate round of 64: Plays Juan-Corne Brand of South Africa at 12:20pm on Tuesday
Aaron Knox
Round of 128: Beat Bernado Dias of Brazil 3-1 (11-2, 11-6, 2-11, 11-6)
Round of 64: Plays Arihant KS [17/32] of India at 7:40am on Tuesday
Danny Lynch
Round of 128: Lost to Oliver Dunbar [9/16] of New Zealand 0-3 (8-11, 3-11, 4-11)
Plate round of 64: Plays Judah Phillips of South Africa at 11am on Tuesday
Frank O’Flynn
Round of 128: Lost to Shiven Agarwal of India 0-3 (3-11, 3-11, 8-11)
Plate round of 64: Plays Maximus Mathews of New Zealand at 11am on Tuesday
GU19
Riley Slade
Round of 128: Lost to Hana Al Nayal of the Netherlands 0-3 (8-11, 5-11, 7-11)
Plate round of 64: Bye received
Plate round of 32: Plays Salma Hassan of Canada at 9am on Wednesday
Ella Walsh
Round of 128: Lost to Leelou Laporte of France 0-3 (4-11, 10-12, 2-11)
Plate round of 64: Bye received
Plate round of 32: Plays Maria Spirina [AIN] at 9am on Wednesday
Zoe Yeomans
Round of 128: Beat Anna Musikhina [AIN] 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-3)
Round of 64: Lost to Sofiia Zrazhevska [17/32] of Poland 0-3 (6-11, 1-11, 4-11)
Runner-up in the 2025 Nationals, Conal Jackson of Sutton Lawn Tennis Club initially received a bye for the BU19 first round at the World Squash Junior Championships in Egypt from July 21.
His tournament was to begin against 9/16-seed Jack Elriani of the USA, with a third-round tie versus Canadian Arham Izhar or Macau’s Ka Hei Lei up for grabs.
However, the complete redraw for the tournament now sees him start in the round of 128 against Belgium’s Maddox Moxham (seed 17/32), with the winner set to clash with Germany’s Oleksii Bielikov or South Africa’s Juan-Corne Brand.
Following the individual event, Jackson will join up with Christian Dromgoole, Aaron Knox and Danny Lynch for the team event from July 27.
First Squash Memory: Just coming in when it was raining when I used to play tennis. So yeah.
Racket Type: The Tecnifibre 125 X-Top.
Best Career Moment: Last year playing the Worlds in Houston.
Pre-Match Meal: Chicken, pesto, pasta.
Early Or Late Game: Late.
Favourite Shot: Backhand straight drop.
Biggest Influence: I’d say is Mohamed El Shorbagy.
What Does Representing Ireland Mean: Oh, it’s obviously a huge honour to play for Ireland. There’s also been a lot of great players before to put on the shirt, so it’s great to be able to follow them and hopefully we’ll do our best in Cairo.
Riley Slade will be the first Irish player in action at the World Squash Junior Championships in Cairo on Monday. Her GU19 round of 128 match versus Hana Al Nayal of the Netherlands – in a start list of 96 players, down from the original 100 – is included in the first group of matches, starting at 10:40am local time (8:40am Irish).
A round of 64 match against Hong Kong China’s Helen Tang (9/16 seed), scheduled for Monday 5:20pm local (3:20pm Irish), will be Slade’s reward if she wins.
Ella Walsh will begin her campaign soon after Slade. Her round of 128 match versus Leelou Laporte of France is timed for 11:20am (9:20am Irish) and awaiting the winner is a 6pm Monday match (4pm Irish) against Charlotte Sze of the USA (17/32 seed).
Zeo Yeomans, the third and final Ireland GU19 player in the individual event, will be on court at 12pm (10am Irish) against the Russian, Anna Musikhina. A 6:40pm (4:40pm Irish) round of 64 match versus Poland’s Sofiia Zrazhevska (17/32 seed) later in the day is the potential reward.
Ella Erickson, who will join Slade, Walsh and Yeomans in Cairo for the women’s team event later this month, isn’t playing in the individual tournament.
A revised draw was required in the BU19 section, giving all six Irish players different opponents in Egypt from the original pairings released on July 7.
134 players were initially registered to compete, meaning Nathan Hann was set to be the only Irish player having to play in the round of 256, with the five others receiving byes to the round of 128.
However, with the number of entrants reduced to 126, Ireland’s half-dozen will now all start on Monday in the round of 128 following a fully revised draw.
Aaron Knox will be first on court versus Brazilian Bernado Dias in a clash timed for 12:40pm (10:20am Irish). At stake is a round of 64 fixture on Tuesday against Rufus Gebhardt of Germany or India’s Arihant Kalamangalam Sunil (seeded 17/32).
Danny Lynch, who is competing in his third World U19 Junior Championships, is now paired with New Zealand’s Oliver Dunbar (9/16 seed) at 1:20pm (11:20am Irish), with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Alnasfan or South Africa’s Judah Phillips next for the winner.
Frank O’Flynn has a 2pm (12 noon Irish) start against Shiven Agarwal of India, with Maximus Mathews of New Zealand or Oscar Okonkwo of the USA (17/32 seed) awaiting in the round of 64.
Christian Dromgoole will face Salem Almwled of Saudi Arabia at 4pm (2pm Irish), looking to progress to a round of 64 tie against India’s Yusha Nafees (17/32 seed) or Canada’s Calder Murray.
Conal Jackson, who competed in Houston in 2024, also has a 4pm local time round of 128 match with Belgium’s Maddox Moxham (seed 17/32), with the winner set to meet Germany’s Oleksii Bielikov or South Africa’s Juan-Corne Brand.
Nathan Hann will be the last Irish player in round of 128 action, with his match against Tsun Hei Mak of Hong Kong China starting at 4:40pm (2:40pm Irish). The winner will net a fixture against Australia’s Darcy Hayes or Poland’s Jan Samborski (17/32 seed).
David Noone has come a long way with his squash. Examine the picture wall at Galway LTC and you will see him frozen in time as a teenager, his framed snap accompanied by a series of achievements that included representing Ireland at various events from U14 to U19 and winning a few age-grade national titles. A local hero who went international.
Those turn-of-the-millennium exploits didn’t go unnoticed last week. Seven of the 10-player Ireland group selected for the World Squash Junior Championships were in town for a pre-Cairo training camp, and they weren’t long in picking out their Squash Ireland junior performance coach.
Their spot of the teenage Noone – and the teasing it generated – added to the sweetness and light atmosphere surrounding the gathering in Salthill. Step in the courts, though, and the ambience was very different. There was business to get done. Serious business with the countdown on for the tournaments in Egypt from July 21 to August 1.
Cairo isn’t Noone’s first rodeo; he has been on the coaching circuit for a while. However, he appreciates the strides taken in recent times by Squash Ireland to better resource up-and-coming talent and help it achieve its full potential.
“I have been doing it for 10 years now,” said Noone, providing some then and now context. “I’ve always loved it – the players have always given it 100 per cent. But it’s much more structured now from a governance perspective; there is a lot more going on in the background.
“Ten years ago, it was still brilliant; there was so much good training. But nowadays, it definitely feels like there is momentum gathering towards being much more professional. Hopefully, it is starting to really develop and we will be able to access better facilities, better people as well.
“Be more professional with the strength and conditioning and some psychology and nutrition and all these different aspects of the game, which are going to be so important to the guys if they do choose a professional career or try to represent Ireland in the future. This has been a very welcome progression with Squash Ireland.”
An example of this professionalisation was the presence in Galway of Borja Golan. The Spaniard was once the World No.5, but coaching is now his thing and his contributions last week were hugely enthusiastic, to say the least.
Noone was thrilled. “This is the final stint of preparation, and it has been brilliant. We have a guest coach over, getting some expertise on the top level from a world-class perspective.
“And we are in Galway as well, which is nice. It’s a training camp outside their home environments, and we have been blessed with some weather as well, so it’s good that we can get outside and do some team building.
“We were doing some swimming and jumping off the tower and things like that, which is quite fun. But in terms of their training, we’re looking good. The guys have been training hard. Since the season finished and the teams were announced, we had like a 10-week training block, and it has been very productive.
“We have been lucky enough to do a few squads, predominantly in Dublin, and we have really been pushing on the idea of a lot of court time and a lot of physical stuff, so they are in really good shape. The matches are going to come thick and fast in Cairo, but they will be well prepared for that and will be able to get through it feeling good and feeling positive. They are ready for the event, which is great.”
Why choose Golan to help out? “One of the reasons is just a bit of flavour, to add in some different viewpoints so that it is not too much on the side of repeating itself. Even though repetition is massively important, it’s nice to bring in someone else’s viewpoint and to gain knowledge.
“It might be the same message, but it is so good if it comes from different people. There is just more knowledge being gained from having someone coming from a background like his. He is an amazing individual who has achieved a World No.5 status, and I like to use that as preparation for the guys to make sure they are a bit extra focused.
“I try to do it once per year, to bring in an expert from somewhere else around the world. I just thought it would be the perfect fit this time around with his background. The guys have gotten to know him a little bit over the last few months as well, so I just thought it would be nice to have a familiar face that would inspire. He is a good, friendly guy as well. It makes a big difference if they are enjoying it.”
Galway done, the whole kit and caboodle for the 10-player Ireland group, consisting of six boys and four girls, has moved on to Africa. The squad flew out on Friday, and it will be quickly down to business as the individual event begins on Monday in Cairo.
It’s a tournament that already feels special before a ball has been struck. “Egypt is the biggest hub of professional squash – it adds to the excitement for them to go over and immerse themselves in that amazing place that is Egypt for squash at the moment,” Noone enthused.
“You get to go to a really cool club, and it’s so exciting. It’s definitely the pinnacle of a junior career, and it’s so important for these players to have this as a carrot to train harder. They are very excited about going to Cairo.
“It [the Championships] is always in an exotic location. We have been to Melbourne, India, Kuala Lumpur, all these amazing places, but this one seems to ring home a little bit more to the guys because of the level of players over there as well.
“It’s really exciting. Egypt has become synonymous with professional squash, so Cairo is definitely going to be the pinnacle of their junior career, with the added spice of it being Egypt and the best players in the world. It’s really good.
“We leave July 18 and are gone until August 2, so it’s quite an extensive trip and we need to prepare for that as well mentally in terms of what food we will be eating and if there is any sort of loneliness for home or anything like that.
“We have to make sure that we are operating as a unit and as a team. It’s one of the most exciting things we have as a squad, that they just immerse themselves in the team atmosphere. Typically, it does tend to be one of the most magical weeks. When you are playing for Ireland, it is brilliant, so looking forward to it.”
Assisting Noone and the team will be Breanne Flynn, who is currently placed 141st in the PSA women’s rankings. “We’re lucky enough that Breanne has joined us on the trip. She is a current professional squash player, and she is also a qualified physiotherapist.
“She is going to be a big addition to the team with her squash expertise, and then hopefully being able to guide our guys through the tournament and keep them injury-free. It will be an added bonus.
“The team is looking really good, really strong. There is a good support going out there as well, which will be really fun. It’s always nice when you get the flag out and you are playing for your country, that there are extra people behind the court. It’s exciting as it is, but then you get the voices going, it can be the most special time with lifetime memories created.”
