Pearson reaches last 32 in Worlds

The 17-year-old, who is coached by Steve Townsend, was one of six players selected to represent England and was ranked number five in that group.

However, she performed so well that she went further than all but one of her teammates.

Nineteen countries took part in the event at Harvard University, with Pearson beating Canadian number four Abbey Foster 3-1 in the first round.

She then faced Dutch number one Ilona Lagerweij, who she had met before in a European tournament.

Refusing to be overawed, Pearson drew on her previous experience to record another 3-1 success.

However, the Kenilworth Sixth Form Collge student’s progress was ended in the third round with a straight-games defeat to 18-year-old Egyptian Nouran El Torky.

El Torky went on to reach the last four, with the Egyptian team underlining their reputation as the strongest junior squash nation in the world with both the individual and team gold medals.