Egyptian [17/32] seed Adham Roshdy produced a top performance to stun the home crowd as he took down USA’s [3/4] seed Rishi Srivastava to reach the last 16 of the WSF World Junior Squash Championships at Houston Squash Club.
With both rounds three and four of the men’s event taking place today, victories were built as much on physicality and determination as racket skills.
Nowhere was that more evident than in Roshdy’s clash with Srivastava. The 17-year-old, who beat Canada’s Ewan Harris 3-1 in the RO64 in the morning, clung on brilliantly in two tight opening games against the US U19 No.1, eking out a 2-0 lead with a pair of 12-10 wins. Srivastava, who got the better of Japan’s Shunsaku Kariyazono in the morning session, then struggled in the third game, with Roshdy closing out the contest in three games with an 11-3 victory in the decisive game.
Afterwards, Roshdy said: “I’m feeling so happy and am looking forward to tomorrow! It feels brilliant and I’m so proud. I’m really happy with my mentality and my shots, and the whole team behind me cheering for me really helped.”
In another upset, Argentina’s Segundo Portabales was fantastic in a 3-1 win over [5/8] seed Marwan Abdelsalam of Egypt, with the 18-year-old covering the court brilliantly to earn an 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5 victory to set up a last 16 meeting with Indian [17/32] seed Shaurya Bawa, who inflicted more hurt on the hosts today with a hard-fought win over [9/16] seed Rustin Wiser.
“I was very excited for this tournament because it is difficult to play tournaments like this in Argentina because of the costs, it takes a lot of effort for my family, me, my coach – everyone! I’m so excited to play my next match; representing Argentina means so much,” Portabales said.
It wasn’t all bad news for Team USA, though, with [3/4] seed Caroline Fouts leading the charge into the last 16 for the host. Fouts, who went up against Hong Kong, China’s Valerie Kaitlyn Huang today, looked unplayable on the all-glass show court, with the 18-year-old blowing Huang away 11-0, 11-3, 11-3.
“It’s an amazing venue with amazing courts… I like the environment and I’m a big environment player, so when I feel the lights shining on me on that court I feel like it brings out my best squash,” Fouts said.
Joining Fouts in the next round of the women’s event will be Dixon Hill, who will play Egyptian [3/4] seed Nadien El Hammamy after an impressive win over Tsz Ching Cheung of Hong Kong, China and Riya Navani, who will face Malaysia’s Thanusaa Uthrian after a 3-0 win over Canada’s Ocean Ma. Zane Patel is the sole American through to the last 16 in the men’s draw, with the [9/16] seed drawn against top seed Mohamad Zakaria after a 3-0 win over Republic of Korea’s Kun Kim.
The 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships resumes with the round-of-16 tomorrow, 14 July, from 10:00 (GMT-5). Head to WORLDSQUASH.TV to watch all the action live and free.
Click here to view all the results from day two of the WSF World Junior Squash Championships. View the draw for the women’s event here and the men’s event here.
The 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships are taking place at Houston Squash Club, Texas, from 12-23 July. Find all the key information here.
Keep up with all the action at wsfworldjuniors.com.
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