Nine Ireland U19 players have learned their fate in the individual events at the World Squash Junior Championships in Cairo – including Nathan Hann, who is primed for a round of 128 match against the men’s No2 seed, Korea’s Joo Young Na, who was the runner-up last year in Houston.
Six Irish players will participate in the boys’ individual section, which attracted 134 entries, but Hann will be the only one of coach David Noone and Breanne Flynn’s team drawn to start his campaign on July 21 in the round of 256.
He will face Hungary’s Benjamin Vida in the first round at the Black Ball Sporting Club, hoping to win his way through to a glamour clash against the Korean Na, who, if the seedings work out to plan, is in line to face the defending champion, Egypt’s Mohamad Zakaria, in the July 26 final.
Four of the five Irish players who received first-round byes, Frank O’Flynn, Conal Jackson, Christian Dromgoole and Aaron Knox, were pitted against seeded opposition in round two.
O’Flynn will face Malaysia’s Low Wa-Sern, a 5/8 seed with a third-round fixture up for grabs versus Switzerland’s Fabian Seitz or Australia’s Kasper Cheung.
Jackson faces the 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.
Dromgoole will face Hart Robinson of the USA (17/32 seed) in the second round, with the winner set to take on either England’s Ronnie Hickling or Macau’s Wu Cheok Io.
Knox has been paired against another 17/32 seed, Canadian Youssef Sarhan, with New Zealand’s Maximus Mathews or Japan’s Shunsaku Kariyazono the prospective third-round opponent.
Lynch, the fifth and final Irish player to get an opening-round bye, will play Brazilian Bernardo Jorge Guimaraes. The winner will then play Pakistan’s Anas Ali Shah (17/32 seed) or Canadian Luke Yang in round three.
After the individual tournament ends, Jackson, Dromgoole, Knox and Lynch will join together for the team event from July 27 to August 1.
Switching to the girls’ individual championship, which attracted an entry list of 100, all three Irish players will face seeded opposition in the round of 64 if they progress from the opening round of 128.
Riley Slade, who placed 23rd at last weekend’s Dutch Junior Open, will begin in Cairo against Hana Al Nayal of the Netherlands, with a match against Hong Kong China’s Helen Tang (9/16 seed) the reward if she wins.
Ella Walsh will start against Leelou Laporte of France, with the prize of a match against Charlotte Sze of the USA (17/32 seed) awaiting.
Meanwhile, Zeo Yeomans will be up against the Russian Anna Musikhina, with a fixture versus Poland’s Sofiia Zrazhevska (17/32 seed) the reward for the winner.
After the individual tournament, Slade, Walsh and Yeomans will be joined by Ella Erickson for the girls’ team event.
