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.
