South Africa caused a shock at the 2024 WSF World Junior Championship after recording a 2-1 win over leaders Egypt to give the [13/16] give them a chance to finish top of Pool A if they get past Switzerland tomorrow.
South Africa went into the tie knowing they would only need to win one match to secure a shock result over Egypt. This is because the senior gender team sheet was not submitted to the tournament organisers, meaning that the default line-up of Egypt’s first three players had to be played. This put first string Mohamad Zakaria in the lineup. The Egypt team opted to default Zakaria’s match and promote Omar Azzam to the first string and Marwan Assal to the second string.
After a tough spell from Conor Earle, Asal managed to level the tie for Egypt with an 11-5, 12-10, 11-4 win in the first match.
This meant that the match between South Africa’s Luhann Groenewald and Egypt’s Omar Azzam would be a winner.
Azzam gave his team the lead with a hard-fought 12-10 win in the first game, before securing an 11-7 victory in the second game.
The 18-year-old regained the lead once again with another tiebreak win but was unable to close, with Groenewald – whose unorthodox two-handed technique and relentless running caused Azam no end of trouble – the deciding race in fifth place. game with an 11-8 win.
After the brutal action of the opening games, the decisive clash was a stop-start affair. To the delight of the South African bench, it was Groenewald who was able to cope better with the intense pressure, with the 17-year-old sealing the match with a stroke decision, prompting wild celebrations from his teammates.
Afterwards, South African coach Jimmy Schlebusch said: “He played so well, worked hard and stayed on his game. He changed things, it was awesome and he fought so hard!
Groenewald added: “To do it for my country is incredible and so is the support. I think my team supporting me was the only thing that got me through this race.”
Result: WSF World Junior Team Championship
[13/16] South Africa 2-1 Egypt [1]
Connor Earl lost to Marwan Assal 0-3: 5-11, 10-12, 4-11
Luhann Groenewald beat Omar Azzam 3-2: 10-12, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9.
[match withdrawn]
The pools stage of the 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championship concludes tomorrow, July 20, from 10:00 (GMT-5). Head to WORLDSQUASH.TV to watch all the action live and for free.
Click here to see all the results from the second day of team events, Click here to see the program of the third day and Click here to see the current ranking of the pools.
The 2024 WSF Junior World Squash Championships are being held at the Houston Squash Club, Texas, from July 12 to 23. Find all the essential information here.
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