KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — The national junior squash team moved closer to claim their inaugural title at the WSF Women’s World Junior Team Championship after cruising to the final of the meet held in Tauranga, New Zealand, today.

The team coached by Andrew Cross defeated third seed, England 2-0 in the semi-final match to setup a final meeting against the reigning champion, Egypt, tomorrow, according to the tournament website www.wsfworldjuniors.com.

In the match against England which was held at the Devoy Squash and Fitness Centre, Malaysia who is the second seed team, took the lead after the two-time British Junior Open winner, Aifa Azman defeated Jasmine Hutton; 6-11, 12-10, 12-10 and 11-6.

The 2016 Asian Junior Under-19 champion, S. Sivansangari sealed the victory for Malaysia by edging Lucy Turmel;11-8, 11-8 and 11-4.

Meanwhile, Egypt who is also the seven-time winner, scored a comfortable 3-0 win over the 2005 winner, Hong Kong in another semi-final match.

For the record, Malaysia and Egypt have met in the 2007 edition finals in Hong Kong which saw the latter emerging as champion with a 2-0 win.

Fourteen teams are taking part in this year’s edition with Egypt spearheading the Group A challenge alongside New Zealand and Australia while Malaysia were drawn with Germany and Canada in Group B.

Five-time champions England lead the Group C challenge with India, France and South Africa while four teams—Hong Kong, United States, South Korea and Ireland – make up Group D.

The tournament is a continuation of the WSF World Juniors Individual Squash Championship which concluded at the same venue on Monday. — Bernama