The twenty finalists of the 2014 U.S. Junior Squash Championships have been decided after Saturday’s quarterfinals and semifinals in New Jersey at Princeton University and Lawrenceville School.
The girls’ U11 final will be contested between one and two seeds Molly Stoltz and Brecon Welch. Both players endured difficult semifinals as Stoltz held off fourth-seeded Abigail Schuster in five games, while Welch defeated Margaux Comai in four games.
In boys’ U11, John Paul Tew continued his impeccable run without dropping a game, first defeating top seed Rohan Iyer in the quarterfinals 11-7, 11-6, 13-11, then fourth-seeded Charles Braff 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 to reach the final. Tew faces two seed David Beeson, who also has yet to drop a game in the tournament.
Kedar Nagaraj is the surprise of the boys’ U13 division having strung together three consecutive five-game victories, including a quarterfinal victory against two seed Jed Burde. Nagaraj will test his stamina against first seeded Mateo Giraldo in the final, who prevailed in a five-game quarterfinal against Dillon Huang before reaching the final with a win against four seed Tyler Mackesy.
On the girls U13 side, first and second seeds Marina Stefanoni and Meghna Sreedhar will contest Sunday’s final with both players maintaining their perfect, three-game-win record on Saturday including semifinals against four and three seeds Olivia Robinson and Ashley Manning.
Ona Prokes fought her way through the bottom half of the girls’ U15 main draw first dispatching three seed Laila Sedky in four games, then recovering from 2-1 down against Lily Zelov to reach the final 12-10, 6-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8. Prokes is up against top seed Elle Ruggiero who has yet to lose a game in the tournament.
After a four-game round of sixteen victory, boys’ U15 top seed Ryan Murray extended his run of four-game victories on Saturday in the quarterfinals against Max Finkelstein and semifinals against Ian Blatchford. Murray plays third-seeded Patrick McElroy who upset two seed Tyler Carney 15-17, 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 in the semifinals.
Boys’ U17 one seed Sean Hughes continued his perfect run in the tournament to reach the final where Brunswick’s two seed David Yacobucci who defeated third-seeded Clark Doyle in a three-game semifinal.
U.S. Junior Open U17 champion and Canadian-American dual citizen Chloe Chemtob reached the girls’ U17 final without dropping a game. second-seeded Casey Wong will vie for the GU17 final after defeating three seed Morgan Steelman 11-6, 11-4, 10-12, 11-2 in the semifinals.
Defending U.S. Junior and national champion Sabrina Sobhy eased her way in to the final against four seed Kayley Leonard, Sobhy’s first opponent to earn more than five points in a single game against the seventeen-year-old this tournament. Sobhy faces Reeham Sedky, who prevailed against three seed and 2014 DeRoy Sportsmanship Award recipient Olivia Fiechter in the semifinals.
Two turbulent rounds in the boys’ U19 saw only one seed reach the final and a number of marathon matches. Brunswick No. 1 Hayes Murphy reaches the final after eliminating one seed Arhum Saleem from the main draw in four games, then holding off Avon Old Farm’s Atticus Kelly in a five-game semifinal. Their semifinal was Kelly’s second consecutive five-game match of the day after a nail-biting 13-11, 11-9, 11-13, 9-11, 14-12 victory against fourth-seeded Timmy Brownell.
Hayes will face the male DeRoy recipient Derek Hsue who advanced to the final in the last match of the night against Bransten Ming 10-12, 9-11, 18-16, 11-5, 11-9.
For complete results and Sunday’s final times, visit the 2014 U.S. Junior Squash Championships tournament page.
