U.S. junior champion and recent U.S. Junior Open champion Andrew Douglas pulled off one of the biggest upsets in British Junior Open history Tuesday, taking out world junior champion and BU19 top seed Eain Yow Ng to reach Wednesday’s quarterfinals in Sheffield, England. Douglas was one of sixteen Americans to reach Tuesday’s round of sixteen, and one of seven to advance to the quarterfinals.
The eighteen-year-old from New York City forged a two game lead against the Malaysian 11-8, 11-9, but Yow Ng came back to win the third and fourth games 11-9, 11-7. Douglas regrouped to decisively clinch the sixty-seven-minute upset 11-4 in the fifth.
“I’ve never thought it could happen, but I worked hard and it paid off, I can’t believe it!” Douglas said. “I thought someone had something against me here as I’ve always had to play the No. 1 or No. 2 seed early, but this time I’ve got through. Thanks for all of the support, to my coach Laurent Elriani, Rich Wade, US Squash…unbelievable!”
Douglas, who is unseeded, will take on Egypt’s [5/8] seed Karim Magdy in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Three Americans in the U17 division reached the last sixteen with unseeded Elizabeth Ross and Tiber Worth both exiting the main draw in three games against seeded opposition. After a major upset in the U.S. Junior Open quarterfinals, unseeded Daelum Mawjii recorded another significant result across the pond, knocking out Malaysian [5/8] seed Yee Xian Siow in five games and sixty-six minutes.
2015 British Junior Open U15 finalist and U.S. Junior champion Marina Stefanoni remains on track as the division’s top seed following a four-game victory over Barbados’ Meagan Best. Elsewhere in the GU15 division, unseeded American Priya Verma lost out against a seeded opponent in three games.
The Bu15 division saw four Americans reach the last sixteen, and produced two unseeded quarterfinalists in the form of Thomas Rosini and Dana Santry. Rosini upset Egyptian [5/8] seed Marwan El Borolossy in four games and thirty-seven minutes, while Santry held off England’s Josh Perkins in four games and forty-six minutes. Teammates Myles McIntyre and Andrew Barr both exited the main draw in three games against seeded opponents.
Gu13 [3/4] seed Lucie Stefanoni recorded her second three-game victory of the tournament to remain on track to reach the semifinals. Unseeded Americans Abigail Schuster and Molly Stoltz both pushed seeded opponents to four games, but exited the main draw.
Three Americans also reached the last sixteen in the BU13 division. Tad Carney fell against [5/8] seed Johan Bryant in four games, while unseeded John Ho won an all-American match against Hollis Robertson to reach the quarterfinals.
For the third consecutive year, Team USA sent a delegation of juniors to Sheffield as a national team development program with thirty-four players representing Team USA this year.
The British Junior Open is considered the most prestigious junior world age-group championship other than the U19 World Junior Championships, and some formidable names have been crowned BJO Champion in the past. Past winners include include, Nick Matthew, Greg Gaultier, Karim Darwish, Ramy Ashour (all previous World No. 1’s) and current world No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy on the male side. On the women’s side, names such as Nicol David, Nour El Sherbini and Camille Serme are on the winners list.
View all results and full tournament coverage on the British Junior Open home page and score document.
January 3, Round of 16 Team USA Results:
BU19
Andrew Douglas (USA) bt [1] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 11-4 (67m)
GU17
[2] Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-0 Elizabeth Ross (USA) 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 (18m)
BU17
[3/4] Mostafa Assal (EGY) bt Tiber Worth (USA) 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (37m)
Daelum Mawjii (USA) 3-2 [5/8] Yee Xian Siow (MAS) 13-11, 8-11, 11-3, 4-11, 6-3 rtd. (66m)
GU15
[1] Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-1 Meagan Best (BAR) 11-4, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3 (26m)
[5/8] Katie Maliff (ENG) 3-0 Priya Verma (USA) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (14m)
BU15
[5/8] Ibraham Mohammed (EGY) 3-0 Myles McIntyre (USA) 13-11, 11-5, 11-8 (36m)
Thomas Rosini (USA) 3-1 [5/8] Marwan El Borolossy (EGY) 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3 (37m)
[3/4] Sam Todd (ENG) 3-0 Andrew Barr (USA) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (26m)
Dana Santry (USA) 3-1 Josh Perkins (ENG) 11-8, 16-14, 8-11, 12-10 (46m)
GU13
[3/4] Lucie Stefanoni (USA) 3-0 Amelia Haworth (ENG) 11-3, 11-7, 11-0 (17m)
[5/8] Noureen Khalifa (EGY) 3-1 Abigail Schuster (USA) 12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 11-3 (22m)
[2] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-1 Molly Stoltz (USA) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 (30m)
BU13
[5/8] Johan Bryant (ENG) 3-1 Tad Carney (USA) 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (37m)
John Ho (USA) 3-1 Hollis Robertson (USA) 11-1, 11-2, 7-11, 11-5 (20m)