WJC Day 5 Wrap - Finalists decided in Melbourne

The men’s and women’s draws have been whittled down to the final two with the finalists now decided at the 2023 WSF World Junior Squash Championships in Melbourne.

The stage is now set for the tournament finals to be held at Melbourne Sports Centres on Sunday afternoon.

MEN’S SEMI-FINALS
Pakistan’s Hamza Khan was the first player through to the men’s final after overcoming 9/16 seed Melvil Scianimanico in five games in the first semi-final.

With the bottom side of the draw seeing the elimination of defending champion Rowan Damming (NED) in the round of 16 and his conqueror Hollis Robertson (USA) in the quarter-finals, Khan and Scianimanico had a fantastic opportunity to move into the final.

When Khan bounced out to a 2-0 lead, the effect of Scianimanico’s five-game thriller against Robertson looked to be telling.

However down a match ball in the third, the Frenchman didn’t give up and came roaring back to not only win the game but take the fourth as well to send the match to a decider.

Another heroic act looked to be coming off when Scianimanico held match ball at 11-10, however Khan steadied himself to reel off three straight points and book his ticket to Sunday.

Regardless of how he fares tomorrow, Khan’s performance is an improvement from last year’s tournament where he bowed out at the semi-final stage.

In the second semi-final, Egyptian 15-year-old Mohamed Zakaria stormed into the tournament decider with a 3-0 takedown of 5/8 seed Salman Khalil.

Having being bundled out in the round of 16 last year by his countryman, Khalil was hopeful of turning the tables but was unable to withstand the 3/4 seed’s onslaught in a largely one-sided encounter.

After winning the opening set in last year’s semi-final before going down to eventual champion Rowan Damming, Zakaria wasn’t about to let a lead get away from him this year as he romped to an 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 victory.

WOMEN’S SEMI-FINALS
Malaysia’s Aira Azman was the first player through to the women’s final after taking down second seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir 3-0.

The 2022 quarter-finalist had to fight hard to win the first game 12-10, however the further the match went the more she got into her groove.

With her Egyptian opponent looking nervous, Azman kept a cool head, taking the next two games 11-7, 11-8.

Azman becomes the first non-Egyptian woman to make the final since 2010 and the first Malaysian woman to make the final since Nicol David took out her second title in 2001.

The 3/4 seed has a tough task ahead on Sunday where she will meet defending champion Amina Orfi.

The number one seed made her second straight final by beating fellow Egyptian Malak Khafagy in a replay of their 2022 quarter-final encounter.

Just like their match last year, Orfi was too strong in a 3-0 victory over the 3/4 seed. Having dropped only two games on the way to last year’s final, Orfi has been near perfect in Melbourne having not dropped a game yet this week.

Orfi and Azman met in the final of the SRFI Indian Tour in Jodhpur last November with Orfi winning 3-0.

AUSSIES IN ACTION
Oscar Curtis remains in the running to finish as high as 17th in the men’s draw following his win today over Malaysia’s Harith Danial Jefri.

Outside of his third round loss to Malaysian quarter-finalist Joachim Chuah, the West Australian has not dropped a game this week and now meets Colombia’s Juan Irisarri. 

Victorians Connor Hayes and Harvey Allan will face-off in the only all-Australian match of the tournament after they both claimed victory in the same section of the draw today.

Allan walked away with a 22 minute win over India’s Aryan Pratap Singh, however Hayes endured some minutes-long rallies in a 58 minute marathon before taking down Sri Lanka’s ​​Nevindu Lakman 3-2. They will meet to determine who finishes in 69th position.

Ken Lamb (NSW) is into the 77th place playoff against Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Hsin-Lun after beating Saudi Arabia’s Yasser Al Abbas 3-1, while Dylan Classen will finish 40th after going down this afternoon to India’s Sharan Punjabi and withdrawing from tomorrow’s 39th place playoff.

Finals Day begins at 9:30am at Melbourne Sports Centres with the women’s final at 2pm AEST and the men’s final to follow at 3pm AEST.

Tickets must be purchased for entry.

All matches taking place on the glass court are being streamed for free on WorldSquash.TV and the Olympic Channel.

Highlights from Day Five will be available from around 10:30am AEST on Sunday morning on 7plus.

Click here for draws and results.

Click here for tournament photos.

2023 WSF World Junior Squash Championships
Melbourne Sports Centres VIC
Day 5 - Saturday 22 July 2023

WOMEN’S SEMI-FINALS
2:00pm [3/4] Aira Azman (EGY) d [2] Fayrouz Abouelkheir (EGY) 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-8)
3:30pm [1] Amina Orfi [1] d [3/4] Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-0 ()

MEN’S SEMI-FINALS
[3/4] Mohammad Hamza Khan (PAK) d [9/16] Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) 3-2 (11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 13-11)
[5/8] Salman Khalil (EGY) v [3/4] Mohamed Zakaria (EGY)

AUSTRALIAN TEAM
Men’s 17th/20th Place Draw
Oscar Curtis (WA) d Harith Danial Jefri (MAS) 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-10)

Men’s 37th/40th Place Draw
Sharan Punjabi (IND) d Dylan Classen (WA) 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-6)

Men’s 69th/72nd Place Draw
Harvey Allan (VIC) d Aryan Pratap Singh (IND) 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-9)
Connor Hayes (VIC) d Nevindu Lakman (SRI) 3-2 (11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 3-11, 12-10)

Men’s 77th/80th Place Draw
Ken Lamb (NSW) d Yasser Al Abbas (KSA) 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6)