Ashour On Verge Of Historic World Title Win
Jun 27, 2006
Egypt's Ramy Ashour is seeded to become the first man in history to win the Men's World Junior Squash Championship title twice according to the draw for the 2006 Prince-sponsored event in Palmerston North, New Zealand, which is announced today (Tuesday) by the World Squash Federation (WSF).
The 2006 individual championship, which has attracted 126 players from 19 countries, takes place from 16-22 July, and is followed by the World Junior Team Championship from 23-28 July.
Ashour shocked the squash world two years ago when – aged 16, and seeded only to reach the last eight – he romped through the event in Islamabad, Pakistan, to become the fourth Egyptian to win the crown since the inaugural event in 1980.
The 18-year-old from Cairo, who has now burst into the top 20 PSA world rankings, is expected to face No2 seed Aamir Atlas Khan in the final in a repeat of his 2004 semi-final against the unseeded Pakistani.
Ashour leads a group of four Egyptians who are seeded to reach the last eight – including third seed Omar Mosaad, a double British Junior U17 Open champion from Cairo; and 5/8 seeds Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (the reigning British U17 Open champion) and Tarek Momen, a former British U13 and U15 Open champion.
Germany's European Junior champion Simon Rosner is the fourth seed, while local interest will be led by Evan Williams, a 16-year-old from Wellington who is a 9/16 seed.