Wednesday was another day of reversed fortunes for the Ireland teams at the World Squash Junior Championship. On Monday, the 17th-seeded men’s team was beaten by Scotland (seed 18) while the 15th-ranked women’s team saw off Brazil (seed 10).
Those results changed around on Tuesday with the men beating Germany (seed 22) and the women giving second best to the highly ranked Hong Kong China (seed 2).
A day later, the roles switched back as the men agonisingly lost out 2-1 to 10th seed New Zealand while the women enjoyed a comprehensive 3-0 win over Macau China (seed 16).
Christian Dromgoole was the first player on court for Ireland and he started brilliantly, going 2-0 up. However, he was ultimately beaten in a five-game thriller after losing the last three games on the bounce.
Danny Lynch suffered a second defeat in Cairo to Oliver Dunbar. The Kiwi, who was seeded 9/16, defeated Lynch 3-0 in the individual round of 128 on July 21, and Dunbar repeated that same scoreline in this team encounter.
That left Ireland beaten, but an agreement was made to play the third match and Aaron Knox, who didn’t get to play on Tuesday after the Irish secured an unassailable 2-0 lead over Germany, was super in a three-game match, winning 2-1.
Ireland now face Switzerland, the No.13 seed, who were beaten 2-1 by Brazil.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Irish women’s team were full of energy and they fully deserved their 3-0 win over Macau China. Ella Walsh led the charge, followed by Ella Erickson and Zeo Yeomans, and they next take on South Africa, the No.14 seed that defeated Korea 2-1.
MEN’S RESULT AND FIXTURE – 13/22 PLAY-OFF
Ireland (No.17) LOST 1-2 v New Zealand (No.11)
Christian Dromgoole lost 2-3 (11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 4-11, 4-11) v Maximus Mathews
Danny Lynch lost 0-3 (4-11, 7-11, 10-12) v Oliver Dunbar
Aaron Knox won 2-1 (5-11, 11-7, 11-8) v Brodie Bennett
Next match: vs Switzerland (No.13) – Thursday, 4pm (2pm Irish time)
WOMEN’S RESULT AND FIXTURE – 9/16 PLAY-OFF
Ireland (No.15) WON 3-0 v Macau China (No.16)
Ella Walsh won 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4) v Ianna Chi Ian Cao
Ella Erickson won 2-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-5) v Sierra Chi Cheng Cao (retired after game 3)
Zoe Yeomans won 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-0) v Lok long Huang
Next match: vs South Africa (No.14) – Thursday, 12:30pm (10:30am Irish time)
