Incoming Hoos Win Bronze at World Junior Squash Championships
HOUSTON – Four incoming Virginia squash players competed at the 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships, held July 12-23 at the Houston Squash Club in Houston, Texas.
Juan Jose Torres Lara led his nation of Colombia to a bronze medal in the team event while Maria Min and the Canadian team also finished third in the women’s team bracket.
Torres Lara and Min also competed in the U19 individual events along with fellow incoming freshmen Nathan Rosenzweig and Ewan Harris.
The individual tournament ran from July 12-17 with the team event going July 18-23.
In the individual tournament, Torres Lara, who was a 3/4 seed, won three matches to advance to the Round of 16 before falling against Harith Danial Jefri. Both Harris and Rosenzweig won their opening matches before falling in the Round of 64. They both won matches in the consolation draw.
Min was upset in her opening match against Valerie Huang , falling 3-2, but then stormed through the consolation draw, making it to the consolation final before falling 3-1 against Doyce Ye San Lee. Both players were 17-32 seeds upset in their first-round matches.
The team events feature three players (picked from squads of four players) from each team battling it out, with the first team to win two matches being victorious.
Torres Lara led Colombia to three-straight wins in Group E play, winning all three of his individual matches, to advance to the knockout rounds. Colombia won 2-0 against Kuwait and 2-1 against Pakistan to advance to the semifinals for the first time in tournament history. They fell 2-0 against eventual champion Egypt in the semis.
Min and the girl’s Canadian team went 2-1 in Group C, falling against Malaysia, with Min supplying her team’s lone point in the 2-1 loss. Canada also advanced to the knockout rounds. They made the semifinals with a 2-0 win against Hong Kong, China. It was the first trip to the semis for Canada since 1987, before falling 2-0 against Egypt.
Harris competed for the boy’s Canadian team in Group E, going 2-1 in the group, falling to Colombia. The Canadian team suffered a 2-0 loss to India in the Round of 16 of the knockout bracket, dropping into the consolation matches.
This year’s event had the men’s team event and the women’s team event held concurrently for the first time in World Squash history, with tournaments traditionally alternating the team events each year.
243 players from 39 national federations are competing in this year’s WSF World Junior Squash Championships.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
R128: Juan Jose Torres Lara def Mika von Aesch 11-5, 11-2, 11-4
R64: Juan Jose Torres Lara def. Oliver Dunbar 14-12, 13-15, 11-6, 11-5
R32: Juan Jose Torres Lara def. Jacob Lin 11-3, 11-4, 11-4
R16: Harith Danial Jefri def Juan Jose Torres Lara 11-4, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7
CQF: Juan Jose Torres Lara def Javier Emilio Romeo Lopez 6-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-6
R128: Ewan Harris def. Yuv Pahuja 11-1, 11-4, 11-1
R64: Adham Roshdy def. Ewan Harris 12-10, 11-7, 5-11, 11-4
C: Ewan Harris def Shunsaku Kariyazono 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7
C16: Ewan Harris def Arihant KS 13-11, 11-7, 11-7
CQF: Ewan Harris def Altamis A Sufian 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6
R128: Valerie Huang def. Maria Min 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 3-11, 11-3
C64: Maria Min def. Shu-Yu Lee 11-2, 11-1, 11-2
C32: Maria Min def Sehar Nayar 11-2. 11-9. 11-5
C16: Maria Min def. Emily Lamb 8-11, 11-6, 1–5, 11-6
CQF: Maria Min def Joanne Joseph 11-7, 11-5, 11-3
CSF: Maria Min def Robyn McAlpine 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 15-13
CFinal: Doyca Ye San Lee def Maria Min 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6
R128: Nathan Rosenzweig def. Pan Hong-Rui 11-2, 11-1, 11-1
R64: Youssef Sarhan def Nathan Rosensweig 11-9, 11-1, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8
C: Nathan Rosenzweig def. Avalokit Singh 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7
C16: Ivan Jia Yu Chang def Natahn Rosenzweig 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-9
TEAM COMPETITION
GROUP C
Maria Min (CAN) def. Chante Leppan (RSA) 11-2, 11-4, 11-6
Maria Min (CAN) def. Doyce Ye San Lee (MALAY) 7-11, 11-6, 11-3, 5-11, 12-10
GROUP E
Juan Jose Torres Lara (COL) def. Nicholas Verwey (GUY) 11-9, 11-7, 11-9
Juan Jose Torres Lara (COL) def. Youssef Sarhan (CAN) 11-9, 11-2, 11-5
Jose Santamaria (COL) def. Ewan Harris (CAN) 8-11, 11-1, 12-10, 14-12
Championship Bracket
R16: Arihant KS (India) def. Ewan Harris (CAN) 15-13, 12-10, 8-11, 11-2
R16: Juan Jose Torres Lara (COL) def. Jassim Adel Al Ghareeb (KUW) 11-4, 11-2, 11-3
QF: Juan Jose Torres Lara (COL) def. Mohammad Hamza Khan (PAK) 11-13, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3
SF: Mohamed Zakaria (EGY) def Juan Jose Torres Lara 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Backdraw
Ewan Harros (CAN) def. Freddie Jameson (NZ) 11-7, 11-2, 11-9