REPUBLIC OF KOREA’S Joo Young Na recorded a stunning upset against defending champion and No.2 seed Hamza Khan to become the first ever Korean to reach the semifinals of the WSF World Junior Squash Championships.
The (9/16) seed had already made history at Houston Squash Club by becoming the first player from his country to reach the quarterfinals after a victory over compatriot Seojin Oh yesterday, but today went one better with a spectacular performance.
Na started his match brilliantly against Khan, who last year ended Pakistan’s 37-year-wait for the title, pinning the No.2 seed in the back corners and drawing errors from his fellow 18-year-old to race into a 2-0 lead.
The expected Khan response finally came in game three as the reigning champion began to settle and find his marks, with Khan taking the game 11-7 and then levelling with a comfortable 11-3 win in game four.
Despite momentum seeming to be behind Khan, Na regathered his composure fantastically in game five, outmaneuvering the tiring Khan and steadily building up an increasingly unassailable-looking lead, which proved the case as, despite a late surge from Khan, Na was able to hold out to record an 11-5 victory to see out the match.
“It was a very tough game, I’m so exhausted! I tried to play with confidence and be aggressive. I’m so happy to win and go through to the semi-final,” Na said afterwards.
Na will take on fellow (9/16) seed Harith Danial for a place in the final after the Malaysian overcame English (9/16) seed AbdAllah Eissa in straight games.
The other men’s semi-final will be contested by India’s Shaurya Bawa and Egyptian No.1 seed Mohamad Zakaria after they beat Malaysia’s Low Wa Sern and Pakistan’s Abdullah Nawaz, respectively.
Bawa showed impressive determination and composure in his semi-final win over Low, fighting back from three match balls down to become the first Indian to reach the last four since Kush Kumar in 2014, with the Indian collapsing to the ground after the win as the realisation of his achievement sank in.
Incredibly, Bawa wasn’t the only player to mount a thrilling comeback from three match balls down, with (3/4) seed Nadien Elhammamy doing the same against Indian (5/8) seed Anahat Singh in the women’s draw.
Elhammamy who five days ago celebrated her 17th birthday, started well against the 16-year-old, opening up a 2-0 lead as she defended Singh’s attacking game well.
The Indian came back hard in game three, though, reducing the deficit with an 11-5 win in game three and a hard-fought 12-10 victory in game four.
Singh appeared to have completed the comeback when she went 10-8 up in the fifth game, only for Elhammamy to dig in spectacularly to force a tie break.
Singh earned another match ball at 11-10 but once again was denied by the Egyptian, with Elhammamy storming on to clinch the game 13-11 and the match 3-2.
Afterwards, Elhammamy said: “I’m very proud of myself; that comeback in the last game was honestly incredible.”
Elhammamy will play fellow Egyptian and defending champion Amina Orfi after the top seed made short work of compatriot Nour Megahed.
The other women’s semi-final will be contested by USA’s (3/4) seed Caroline Fouts, who maintained her perfect record in Houston with a 3-0 win over Egyptian (5/8) seed Janna Swaify, and Egyptian No.2 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir, who coasted past USA’s (5/8) seed Riya Navani.
