World Junior Championships to Climax in All-Egyptian Final
Omar Mossad (R), the Egyptian No. 3 seed, shocked Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan with a 3-love crushing of the No. 2 seed.
The final of the Prince Men's World Junior Squash Championship will be an all-Egyptian affair, with top seed Ramy Ashour facing surprise opponent Omar Mosaad, the third seed, in Saturday's climax in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Ashour, the title-holder, dropped his first game of the tournament against fellow countryman Tarek Momen, giving the large crowd just a hint of an upset after trailing one-love after the first. However, the 18-year-old from Cairo reclaimed the advantage in the second game and went on to win convincingly 7-9, 9-3, 9-1, 9-4, in 58 minutes.
Ashour admitted afterwards that the first game was a wake-up call which sparked him into action: “I could tell straight away that Tarek was at the peak of his game and I had to call on all my skills to get back on top. There was no way I was going to let myself be beaten in the semi!”
In the other semi-final, Mosaad secured his unexpected victory over lone Pakistani Aamir Atlas Khan, the No2 seed, in a 9-1 9-5 9-7 scoreline - becoming the sole player left in the tournament to win all his matches in straight games. While Kahn was arguably the more skilful of the two players, Mosaad proved too powerful and played to Khan's weaknesses around court.
The final promises to be a mouth-watering contest with Ramy Ashour looking to cement his name in squash history by becoming the first man to win two world junior championships.
For the latest information, including complete results, check the official website www.2006worldjuniors.co.nz or www.worldsquash.org.
