Egypt expected to dominate World Junior Squash in Chennai

Chennai, Jul 17 (PTI) Egypt's Marwan Tarek and compatriot Rowan Redy Araby will start favourites in the men's and women's event respectively at the WSF-World Junior Squash Championship, which will see the cream of budding talent from 28 countries including host India.

The individual events will run from July 18 to 23 while the team event for men will be held from July 24 to 29. The matches will be held at Indian Squash Academy courts and the Express Avenue mall (from quarterfinals onwards).

The formidable Egypt team, which was beaten by Pakistan in the previous edition in Poland, is expected to be the top contender for the title.

The Egyptian team is stronger this time and should be the frontrunner to win the title, tournament director Cyrus Poncha said.

The Egyptians dominate the seedings in the individual events with four of the top eight in the men's section and an equal number in the women's event.

The home team, fielding a number of newcomers, will face a huge challenge in retaining the sixth place achieved in the 2016 tournament, Poncha said.

"Our first target is to reach the last eight and then hope to give our best," he said.

The 12-member Indian squad is expected to gain exposure at this tournament.

Poncha said the likes of Yash Fadte, Veer Chotrani, Ashita Bhengra and Yoshna Singh stand to gain in experience by playing in the championship.

India's best performance in the individual event came when Joshna Chinappa reached the final in 2005 and a third-place finish in the team event.

Tarek and Reda Araby will be aiming to emulate their illustrious compatriots Mohammed Elshorbagy and Nour El Sherbini who won the titles when Chennai hosted the tournament back in 2009 and later went on to become the World No.1.

A seven-member Pakistan team has reached the city and is a relatively inexperienced one.

The Malaysian and England players are expected to pose a challenge to the formidable Egyptians.

The Indian squad: Men: Yash Fadte, Veer Chotrani, Utkarsh Baheti, Rahul Bhaita, Sankalp Anand, Advait Adil. Women: Ashita Bhengra, Yoshna Singh, Aishwarya Khubchandani, Jania Singh, Sanya Vats, Ananya Danke