Jonathan Smith
Melbourne (Australia): The higher seeded teams made a comfortable start to the 2023 WSF Women's World Junior Team Championship, with the crowd in Melbourne Sports Centres witnessing a slew of dominant results on day one of the pools stage.
With a number of seeding mismatches scheduled today, the action on all three courts in Melbourne was largely one-sided as teams played in a 2-3-1 string order.
The day began ominously for the lower seeded teams, with whitewashes on all three courts in the afternoon session.
On Court Nine, Malaysia’s first string Aira Azman bounced back from her defeat in the final of the individual event last night by sealing maximum points for her side against New Zealand with a 3-0 win over Ella Lash, following wins by the same scoreline for Sehveetrraa Kumar and Thanusaa Uthrian.
On Court Six, India rapidly dismantled Ireland, with Tiana Parasrampuria, Yuvna Gupta and Anahat Singh needing just 46 minutes between them to dispatch the No.13 seeds.
On the glass court, Hong Kong, China impressed as Sze Wing Wai, Ka Huen Leung and Toby Tse breezed past Singapore.
In the evening session, defending champions and top seeds Egypt - who opted to rest their No.1 Amina Orfi following her victory in the final of the individual event last night - were rampant against No.10 seeds Scotland.
The North African nation has won the last seven women’s team events in a run going all the way back to 2007, and on today’s evidence the top seeds look well set for another title challenge.
Zeina Zein and Nour Megahed delivered the win for Egypt with 3-0 wins over Anna Halliday and Louisa Kaven, before Fayrouz Aboelkheir made sure of the result after overcoming stubborn resistance from 16-year-old Robyn McAlpine.
Result (Pool A):
[1] Egypt 3-0 [10] Scotland
Fayrouz Aboelkheir beat Robyn McAlpine 3-1: 11-3, 11-1, 12-14, 11-4 (31m)
Zeina Zein beat Anna Halliday 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-2 (16m)
Nour Megahed beat Louisa Kaven 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-1 (15m)
Results (Pool B):
[2] Malaysia 3-0 [9] New Zealand
Aira Azman beat Ella Lash 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (18m)
Sehveetrraa Kumar beat Sophie Hodges 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (20m)
Thanusaa Uthrian beat Anne Leakey 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-1 (17m)
Results (Pool C):
[3] USA 3-0 [11] South Africa
Madison Ho beat Savannah Ingledew 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 (32m)
Riya Navani beat Dené Van Zyl 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-1 (14m)
Emma Trauber beat Elske Garbers 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-0 (14m)
[5] England 3-0 [14] Chinese Taipei
Asia Harris beat Yu-Chen Cheng 11-1, 11-0, 11-2 (14m)
Amelie Haworth beat Jen-Ju Shaw Pearl 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (16m)
Meha Shah beat Mei Mei Chan 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (15m)
Results (Pool D):
[4] Hong Kong, China 3-0 [12] Singapore
Toby Tse beat Paige Teresa Hill 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (20m)
Sze Wing Wai beat Gracia Chua Rui Én 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (21m)
Ka Huen Leung beat Wai Iynn Au Yeong 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (23m)
[6] India 3-0 [13] Ireland
Anahat Singh beat Sarah Sabry 3-0: 11-1, 11-4, 11-2 (18m)
Tiana Parasrampuria beat Sophie Thomas 3-0: 11-2, 11-2, 11-3 (14m)
Yuvna Gupta beat Maria Protsepova 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (14m)
Schedule (July 25, 2023):
Pool A
14:00 [1] Egypt v [7] Canada
Pool B
17:00 [2] Malaysia v [8] Australia
Pool C
14:00 [3] USA v [5] England, [11] South Africa v [14] Chinese Taipei
Pool D
17:00 [12] Singapore v [13] Ireland, [4] Hong Kong, China v [6] India
