23 Jul 2013
The Academy graduate finishes among the first four in Poland
Monday, July 22nd, 2013, Doha, Qatar : Aspire Academy Squash graduate Abdulla Al-Tamimi finished his fantastic summer squash competition tour by getting 4th place at the World Junior Championships in Poland 2013.
In the tournament, he convincingly beat the talented Egyptian Osama Khalid in the last 16 then one of the strong English players in the quarter finals. Eventually his great run of 15 winning matches in a row over the last few weeks came to an end when he lost to the Egyptian number one seed.
“He probably played a little below his best form in this and subsequent 3-4 playoff but overall I was very proud of his efforts having finished better than his seeding position. There is no doubt he has elevated his squash to a new level during this tour which is a great sign for his future as a professional player,” said Geoffrey Hunt, Aspire Squash Head coach.
Current Aspire Student/Athlete Azlan Amjad, playing in his first World Junior Championship, started very well by winning his first round in straight games. His second round opponent was England number one Richie Fellows and although he tried hard he was outplayed 3/0. He then went into the Special plate where he encountered Guatemala’s number one and lost a very close 4 games. It was pleasing in this match when down 2/1 in games and 6-0 in points that he fought back to briefly take the lead before unfortunately losing it 12-10.
Overall it pleasing he was able to win a match at this level because at 16 years of age he can still play in the next two World Junior Championships. In this tournament they did not play off for every position so he eventually finished in a group between 41st to 48th.