After defeating Egypt 2-1 to take the lead in Pool A, South Africa shocked the 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championships. Should they defeat Switzerland tomorrow, they would have the chance to finish first in Pool A.
South Africa entered the match with the knowledge that they would defeat Egypt with a single victory. This occurred because the tournament organizers did not receive the teamsheet from the top seeds, hence Egypt’s starting three players had to play in the default lineup. This made Mohamad Zakaria the starting player. To advance Omar Azzam to the first string and Marwan Assal to the second string, Team Egypt chose to forfeit Zakaria’s match.
Assal was able to square the draw for Egypt with an 11-5, 12-10, 11-4 victory in the first game after being put to the test by Connor Earl for extended periods.
This meant that the contest between Omar Azzam of Egypt and Luhann Groenewald of South Africa would be decided by winner-take-all.
After a valiant 12-10 victory in the first game, Azzam’s team was pushed back 11-7 in the second.
The 18-year-old took the lead back with another tie-break victory but was unable to hold on as Groenewald, whose unconventional two-handed stroke and unrelenting running gave Azzam endless problems, won 11-8 to force a fifth game in the final.
Following the violent and intense first few games, the pivotal match was a stop-start affair. To the elation of the South African bench, Groenewald proved to be the most adept at handling the tremendous pressure; the 17-year-old sealed the victory with a brilliant decision that set off wild celebrations among his teammates.
Jimmy Schlebusch, the South African coach, said after the game that his player “played so well, worked hard, and stuck to his game.” He battled so valiantly and altered things, it was amazing!
“To pull through for my country is unbelievable, and so was the support,” Groenewald said. I believe that the only thing that got me through the match was the support of my teammates.
The second unexpected outcome of the day concerned the women’s draw, where [9/10] seeds New Zealand defeated [7/8] seeds Japan in a much-needed victory to maintain their chances of qualifying after a crushing loss to hosts USA in the first round.
Mahiro Nishio gave Japan, which defeated Colombia 2-1 yesterday, a strong start by eliminating Anabel Romero Gemmell in three games.
Ella Lash then responded for New Zealand, winning 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, and 11-5 to set up a high-stakes third rubber match between Kathryn Herring of Japan and Ella Hill of New Zealand.
Game five ended in a thrilling 16-14 triumph for Hill, who had both players using numerous match balls in the dramatic five-game battle.
Tomorrow, July 20, at 10:00 (GMT-5) is the last day of the pools stage of the 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championships. The men’s round of 16 begins at 17:00. For a free, live stream of all the action, visit WORLDSQUASH.TV.