Al Sarraj Seeks Historic World Squash Title In New Zealand

Mohammad Al Sarraj is poised to make history next week in New Zealand by becoming the first Jordanian to win a world squash title.

The 18-year-old from the Jordan capital Amman is the No.2 seed - but the highest-ranked player - in the WSF Men's World Junior Squash Championship. The annual World Squash Federation event, together with the women's championship, will take place at Devoy Squash & Fitness Centre in the city of Tauranga from 19-24 July - followed by the Women's World Junior Team Championship from 25-29 July.

Currently boasting a career-high world No.89 ranking, Al Sarraj (pictured above) will be appearing in the championship for the fourth year in a row, after making the last 16 both in 2015 and 2016. Expected to meet Egyptian favourite Youssef Ibrahim in the final, he begins his 2017 campaign against the winner of the first round match between South African Luke van Vuuren and home hope Mitchell Kempton.

Teenagers from 26 nations will take part in the 2017 edition of the championships which were first staged in 1980 - with five champions going on to reach No.1 in the men's PSA World Rankings, and seven topping the women's list.

16-year-old Hania El Hammamy is top seed in the women's event - in a draw which suggests that she and three fellow Egyptians will dominate the semi-final line-up!

Local interest is likely to be focussed on Kaitlyn Watts, a 16-year-old from Palmerston North who is the highest-ranked unseeded player in the women's draw. The world No.152, who made her debut in the 2015 championship and won the Oceania Junior U19 title earlier this year, is expected to face her first seeded opponent, Malaysian Chan Yiwen, a 9/16 seed, in the second round.

Updated draws as follows:

Men's 1st round:
[1] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bye
Eid Alotaibi (KSA) v Salaheldin Eltorgman (CAN)
Ronald Palomino (COL) bye
Aryaman Adik (IND) bye
Ahmed Elmashad (EGY) bye
Nils Schwab (GER) bye
Glenn Yates (RSA) bye
[9/16] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) bye
[9/16] Tom Walsh (ENG) bye
Blaine Verhage (RSA) v Nicolas Serna (COL)
Dylan Tymkiw (ARG) bye
Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bye
Sanjay Jeeva (BEL) bye
Siow Yee Xian (MAS) bye
Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) v Zeeshan Zeb (PAK)
[5/8] Andrew Douglas (USA) bye
[5/8] Abhay Singh (IND) bye
Gabe Yam (NZL) v Jacob Ford (AUS)
Martin Rios (COL) bye
Harrison Gill (USA) bye
Cole Becker (USA) bye
Maksymilian Wielgus (POL) bye
Keanu Langford (RSA) v Jeremías Azaña (ARG)
[9/16] Mohamed Elshamy (EGY) bye
[9/16] Adam Corcoran (ENG) bye
Maaz Jamal Khatri (AUS) bye
Abdulmajeed Boureggah (KSA) bye
Finn Trimble (NZL) bye
Abdul Malik Imran (PAK) bye
Yash Fadte (IND) bye
Jesper Phillips (NOR) v Matías Kupferberg (ARG)
[3/4] Marwan Tarek (EGY) bye
[3/4] Victor Crouin (FRA) bye
Juan Cortés (ARG) v Mohammad Almwled (KSA)
Shahrul Izham Nurhaqiem (MAS) bye
Lachlan Coxsedge (AUS) bye
Tiber Worth (USA) bye
Tobias Weggen (GER) bye
Eric Kim (USA) bye
[9/16] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) bye
[9/16] Roman Allinckx (SUI) bye
Rafa Yam (NZL) v Murray Schepers (RSA)
Luis Alejandro Mancilla (COL) bye
Aly Hussein (EGY) bye
In Woo Lee (KOR) bye
Juan Barreyro (ARG) bye
Matthew Lucente (NZL) bye
[5/8] Adhitya Raghavan (IND) bye
[5/8] Kyle Finch (ENG) bye
Mikael Ismail (RSA) v Ethan Eyles (AUS)
Tushar Shahani (IND) bye
Hafiz Zhafri (MAS) bye
Quinn Udy (NZL) bye
Inaki de Larrauri (COL) bye
Nasser Alhazmi (KSA) v Miguel Gonzalo Pujol (ARG)
[9/16] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bye
[9/16] Mansoor Zaman (Jnr) (PAK) bye
Matias Knudsen (COL) bye
Veer Chotrani (IND) bye
Abbas Zeb (PAK) bye
Salim Khan (USA) bye
William Curtis (AUS) bye
Luke van Vuuren (RSA) v Mitchell Kempton (NZL)
[2] Mohammad Al Sarraj (JOR) bye

Women's 1st round:
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bye
Emma Lundy (IRL) v Ashita Bhengra (IND)
Emme Leonard (USA) bye
Ka Wing Ho (HKG) bye
Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) bye
Courtney Mather (AUS) bye
Danielle Shone (RSA) bye
[9/16] Chan Yiwen (MAS) bye
[9/16] Zoe Foo Yuk Han (MAS) bye
Samita Sivakumar (IND) v Eva Nistler (GER)
Charlotte Orcutt (CAN) bye
Fanny Segers (FRA) bye
Anika Jackson (NZL) bye
Sarah Lüdin (SUI) bye
Dong Ju Song (KOR) v Izane Louw (RSA)
[5/8] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bye
[5/8] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bye
Elle Ruggiero (USA) v Andrea Toth (CAN)
Saskia Beinhard (GER) bye
Alexandra Haydon (AUS) bye
Alice Green (ENG) bye
Ellie McVeigh (IRL) bye
Amalia Rios (COL) bye
[9/16] Lucy Turmel (ENG) bye
[9/16] Marina Stefanoni (USA) bye
Teagan Roux (RSA) bye
Maelle Fuhrer (FRA) bye
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bye
Hyoju Seo (KOR) bye
Aishwarya Bhattacharya (IND) bye
Jessica Osborne (AUS) v Camden Te Kani-McQueen (NZL)
[3/4] Nada Abbas (EGY) bye
[3/4] Rowan Reda Araby (EGY) bye
Grace Pattison (AUS) v Alice Kramer (GER)
Laila Sedky (USA) bye
Nicole Kendall (CAN) bye
Jana Shiha (EGY) bye
Chae Won Song (KOR) bye
Lauriane Maingot (FRA) bye
[9/16] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bye
[9/16] Elise Lazarus (ENG) bye
Rhiarne Taiapa (NZL) bye
Lujan Palacios (PAR) bye
Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bye
Grace Doyle (USA) bye
Lauren Aspinall (AUS) bye
Lily Lloyd (IRL) v Helena Coetzee (RSA)
[5/8] Andrea Lee (MAS) bye
[5/8] Amina Yousry (EGY) bye
Jennifer Preece (RSA) v Laura Neill (IRL)
Shehana Vithana (AUS) bye
Kristýna Fialová (CZE) bye
Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) bye
Kacenka Tycova (GER) bye
Anna Hughes (NZL) bye
[9/16] Lui Hiu Lam (HKG) bye
[9/16] Aifa Azman (MAS) bye
Emma Jinks (CAN) bye
Chloé Mourier (FRA) bye
Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bye
Faith Sithole (RSA) bye
Nadia Hubbard (NZL) bye
Sanya Vats (IND) v Elisabeth Ross (USA)
[2] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bye

For all the latest info, visit www.wsfworldjuniors.com/

Al Sarraj image courtesy of www.squashsite.com

WorldSquash on Facebook
@WorldSquash on Twitter

Issued by Howard Harding, World Squash Federation World Media Director
Howard@hhpr.co.uk | 44 7773-325130
WSQ 7888 17 July 2017