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).
