By Brandon McLaughlin
After a year’s worth of preparation, including a grueling selection process and intensive training, the United States Junior Men’s team was ready to travel to the World Junior Championships. Held in Quito, Ecuador, for many of the team members, this tournament represented the pinnacle of our junior squash careers; all the time we dedicated to squash, all of the hard work on and off the court spent improving our games, was to be put to the test against the world’s best players. I competed in the World Junior Individual Championships last summer in Chennai, India, but this year was different—we would be competing in a team event as well, which added both camaraderie and patriotism to the mix.
Excluding the world class competition, perhaps the biggest challenge our team faced was the altitude. Quito is located at around 10 thousand feet above sea level, which makes any aerobic activity more difficult due to the lower oxygen content in the air. I definitely felt my breathing become labored as soon as I stepped off the plane in Quito. Simple tasks such as walking up the stairs caused shortness of breath, and I had a booming headache that Advil didn’t seem to help. Before we had even gotten on court, we realized we had a daunting task ahead of us.
Gradually, however, things improved. We played every day in the week leading up to the event, including practice matches against the New Zealand and Canadian teams. After a week of adjusting to the altitude, the Individual competition began. The main venue, The Quito Tennis and Golf Club, had a swimming pool equipped with two monstrous water slides, a restaurant, a golf course, a slew of tennis courts, and most importantly, six squash courts. The tournament also had a 4-wall glass court located at the center of a local mall, the Condado. People could watch matches played on this court from any of the five levels of the mall. For the finals, an estimated 750 people watched, making it tough to see the court from any floor. The US had 3 members of the team (Chris Jung, Dylan Murray, and I) make the round of 32, which improved our team seeding from 14 to eight. With the team event on the horizon, we got a few needed days off, and said goodbye to the two members of our team who were only competing in the individual competition (Bryan Keating and Dylan Ward) and the two who were there for experience for the next World Juniors (Devin McLaughlin and Liam McClintock).
The team event was what made the World Junior Championships a truly special experience. Squash is a very individual sport, as anyone who plays can attest. In tournaments throughout the year, we were fierce competitors, battling for rankings points at the various JCT tournaments. But Ecuador was different; we now had to come together as a team, and play for a greater purpose. Although we all had to individually play the matches, the support your teammates provide when you’re playing is a definite boost. Of the three members of the team that were going to attend college this fall, none of us were going to the same school, yet we still rallied behind each other during the event.
After a really tight loss to Germany in the group stages, followed by another tight loss to France in the round of 16, team morale was pretty low. We had high expectations after strong performances in the individual competition, and to be put in the 9-16 bracket was a tough pill to swallow. However, it was after these two losses that our team put together its strongest performance. In a match against Colombia, leading 1-0 in matches and 2-0 in the second match, we seemed to be coasting towards an easy victory. But the Colombian No. 2 fought back to level at 2-2, and Dylan Murray looked to be tired. But, pulling one of the better comebacks I’ve seen, including three consecutive dives in one point, he rallied from 9-6 down in the fifth to win 13-11 and seal the match for us. It’s this kind of determination that characterizes the team event; when you’re playing for country, and for your teammates, it makes pushing through the pain and fighting for points much easier. Unfortunately, I got sick right before our match with Mexico, and couldn’t play in the last match as a result, so we ended up 12th.
Overall, I had a great experience during my three weeks in Ecuador. I got to meet some cool people, see some world class squash, spend time with seven of my friends and two great coaches, and most importantly, represent my country doing something I love. I had the opportunity to play against some of the kids who will be at the top of the PSA tour game in a couple of years, which was a valuable learning experience as I head off to college this year. Although we didn’t do as well as we hoped, we came back to the states with valuable squash experience knowing we represented our country well.
Egypt Dominates World Junior Men’s Championship
Since 2002, when England’s James Willstrop captured the individual title, the Men’s World Junior Championships have been dominated by Egypt and Pakistan. Individually, Egyptians have now laid claim to six consecutive titles, beginning with the two won by Ramy Ashour (2004 and 2006), followed by Mohamed El Shorbagy (2008 and 2009—note that it was last year when the World Squash Federation began hosting an individual world championship each year instead of bi-annually), and now by the 2010 top seed, Amr Khaled Khalifa who beat countryman Ali Faraq in a four-game final in Quito, Ecuador.
Expecting an Egyptian to win the individual title wouldn’t have been doing much but state the obvious before the Championships began in Ecuador’s capital city. After the first two rounds, six of the 32 remaining players were Egyptians, followed by four from both Pakistan and India. England put three players through, and in a bit of a surprise, Mexico and the US also put three into the elite group.
The top-seeded Khalifa had previously established himself as the prohibitive favorite by winning the British Junior Open U15 in 2007 and the U17 in 2009. So dominant was Khalifa in the World Juniors that he didn’t even come close to dropping a game until the semifinals where he found himself in a dogfight with countryman Marwan El Shorbagy. El Shorbagy, younger bother of Mohamed, overcame a two-game deficit to Khalifa to draw even in the semi before falling 11-4 in the fifth.
On the opposite side of the draw, Faraq had an equally easy time getting through the draw, including a sweep in the semis over the last remaining player from Pakistan, Farhan Zaman. And though he challenged Khalifa in the final, Khalifa needed just 60 minutes to win the title in four games. El Shorbagy captured the bronze medal for Egypt by also beating Zaman in the 3/4 playoff making it a clean sweep for Egypt.
Before the individual championships, Egypt had been seeded to win the team event, and sweeping the individual medals did nothing to change expectations. Pakistan, the reigning team champions, were seeded No. 2 and looking to add a record-tying fifth championship to their storied history (which would equal Australia which won five titles from 1980-1992). And in a shakeup of the seedings, the American team was moved up from No. 14 to No. 8 after putting three players into the top-32 of the individual championship (see main story by Brandon McLaughlin).
By the end of just the first day of pool play, Egypt had swept both Ireland and South Korea despite resting Khalifa. Pakistan had done the same by the end of the second day, with their victims being Japan and Colombia. The biggest surprise after pool play was that Venezuela, a 17/24 seed, reached the last 16 after “upsetting” South Africa in their pool. As it turned out, South Africa had submitted an incorrect team order in their tie with Venezuela and, as a result, was forced to “default” their last two matches. For South Africa, the gaffe meant a finish outside the top-16 for the first time since 1998.
It wasn’t until the semifinals that an Egyptian player dropped a game in team play. Canada, seeded No. 5 going into the event, upset the No. 4 seeded India to gain their place in the semis against Egypt. Though Egypt won the tie, Canadians Andrew Schnell and Arjun Gupta each won their opening games in their ties before falling in four. Pakistan, which dropped their No. 2 match in their semifinal with England, won at No. 1 and No. 3 to face Egypt in the title match.
And living up to the billing, the final went down to the wire with Egypt winning at No. 1 (Khalifa beat Danish Atlas Khan in three straightforward games), losing at No. 2 (Faraq lost to Nasir Iqbal in five), before the deciding match want to Egypt with El Shorbagy knocking off Zaman in four.
For the Canadians, the last day was even sweeter than the semifinals when they knocked off the No. 3 seeds, England, after dropping the opening match. Nick Sachvie and Gupta each won in five games—and Gupta’s win over James Earles was 12-10 in the fifth. It was Canada’s best finish since 1992
