Team USA’s Marina Stefanoni has reached her third consecutive World Junior Individual Championship quarterfinals following two victories Thursday, August 1, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The sixteen-year-old from Darien, Connecticut, had to open up Thursday with an all-American round of thirty-two match against Serena Daniel. Stefanoni defeated her teammate in straight games 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 to advance to the last sixteen.
Team USA had a total of nine players competing in the round of thirty-two. Nicholas Spizzirri joined Stefanoni in the round of sixteen following another all-American match up against his Brunswick teammate, Dana Santry. Spizzirri, who is making his World Juniors debut, defeated Santry 11-8, 11-5, 11-8, before falling against Malaysia’s 5/8 seed Siow Yee Xian 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 in the round of sixteen.
In her second match of the day, Stefanoni fulfilled her 5/8 with another straight games victory, this time against Scotland’s 9/12 seed Georgia Adderley, 11-4, 11-8, 11-2.
Stefanoni now moves on to the glass court in the Nicol David Arena, where she will face Egypt’s two seed, Jana Shiha, Friday, August 2, at 1pm local time, 1am ET. Live stream the match on SquashTV and PSA World Tour’s Facebook page.
Stefanoni and Shiha only have one previous encounter, which took place in the 2015 British Junior Open U15 semifinal, which Stefanoni won 14-12 in the fifth.
The biennial Women’s World Junior Team Championship will follow the individuals on Monday, August 5, with seeding and draws to be determined following individuals.
Follow World Juniors live scores here and view draws here. Follow @TeamUSASquash on Twitter and @USSquash on instagram for more U.S. updates. For more tournament coverage visit wsfworldjuniors.com.