England earn five top 20 finishes at World Junior Champs

Five rising English stars earned top 20 finishes at this week’s World Squash Junior Individual Championships as the cream of English talent went head-to-head against the strongest junior players from across the globe in Ontario, Canada.

Dylan Roberts (Kent), Ronnie Hickling (Surrey), Ismail Khalil (Warwicks), Emily Coulcher-Porter (Bucks) and Harriet Broadbridge (Hants) all finished within the top 20 places after five days of action at White Oaks Resort & Spa, with seven of our players reaching at least the last-32 stage of the competition.

British and English U19 champion Roberts [5/8] led the men's challenge as England’shighest-seeded player and delivered another assured performance to finish ninth overall.

Roberts progressed confidently to the last 16 without dropping a game before being edged out in a thrilling five-game battle with Mohammed Alnasfan, falling to an 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6 defeat. From there, though, he battled back with wins against Brendan Tagliarini and Lars Gertsen, before his opponent in the 9-10 playoff withdrew, handing him ninth place.

Elsewhere in the men’s event, European U19 bronze medallist Ronnie Hickling [9/12] finished a creditable 15th, while Ismail Khalil [17/24] enjoyed an excellent week, finishing 20th.

Hickling negotiated a tricky opening match against Purav Rambhia, coming through a thrilling fifth-game tie-break 13-11, before easing his way into the last 16 with a composed straight games win. His run was eventually halted in the next round by 5/8 seed Amir Khaled-Jousselin, who he lost out to in straight games.

17/24 seed Gabriel Chak also produced a number of encouraging performances before ending the tournament in the top 32.

Meanwhile, in the women’s event, British and English Junior Champion Emily Coulcher-Porter delivered another impressive championship performance. The 13/24 seed opened her campaign with a dominant victory over Himari Midorikawa, before narrowly missing out in a tight five-game battle with Lily Bourell in the last 32.

From there, Coulcher-Porter responded strongly in the classification stages, producing a series of confident attacking displays to finish in the top 20, alongside compatriot Harriet Broadbridge [17/32], who she met in the playoff final.

Recent U19 European Individual bronze medallist Reka Kemecsei was also involved in a closely-fought last 32 contest against higher-seeded opposition. The Sussex player pushed 9/12 seed Whitney Wilson all the way before eventually falling to an 11-2, 4-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6 defeat. The 17/24 seed concluded her classification campaign in 24th position.

Eve Parkins, a late replacement for the injured Mariam Eissa, was the final English player to line-up at Niagara-on-the-Lake this week, competing in the qualification draw of the women’s event.

Despite losing her opening qualification match, Northamptonshire’s Parkins responded brilliantly with a trio of victories to finish 65th overall and round off an impressive tournament experience.

England Squash Lead Coach Tim Vail said:

“This was a very positive week for the squad, with five players securing top 20 finishes and several others producing encouraging performances against world-class opposition. Dylan continued his excellent season, while Ismail and Hattie showed tremendous promise by achieving top 20 results with another year still to compete at this level.”

You can view the full results from the World Squash Junior Individual Championships here. The team event is 26 – 31 July and you can see draws, seedings and catch all the action live on the official website.