Colombian Alfonso Marroquin produced the only upset on the opening day of play in the WSF Men's World Junior Individual Squash Championship - and dashed hosts Belgium's hopes of a local player on the winner's podium at the Flemish Squash Centre in Herentals.
There were high hopes for 9/16 seed Tom de Mulder after the 18-year-old from Ghent finished as runner-up in last week's Pioneer Junior Open in Germany.
But the top-rated Belgian, in his fourth appearance in the championship, was unable to extend his opening game advantage over Marroquin as the 18-year-old from Bogota battled through to his 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6 shock victory in 52 minutes.
It was a bewildered De Mulder who tried to explain his feelings to www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards: "I had absolutely no power today, I felt dizzy, I just couldn't move - couldn't hit the ball properly. This is not normal. I have no idea what happened on there."
After further Belgian disappointment when Toon van Baekel went down to England's 5/8 seed James Earles, all eyes were on Jan van den Herrewegen. The Belgian crowded assembled at the glass court to support their local hero.
However, it took just 32 minutes for Egypt's second seed Marwan El Shorbagy to defeat the Oodenaarde-born 17-year-old 11-7, 11-1, 11-7 to end Belgium's presence in the main draw.
Belgian National coach Ronny Vlassaks was still satisfied: "Jan played really well. In this match, he showed that he is able to approach the top players level with regard to pace and speed of the game. Obviously, he still misses the experience in matchplay that these top guys do have."
El Shorbagy led a quintet of Egyptians through to the second round, in which a further five Frenchmen will also bid for places in the last 16.
RESULTS: WSF Men's World Junior Squash Championship, Herentals, Belgium
1st round:
[1] Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) bye
Kush Kumar (IND) bt Marc ter Sluis (NED) 11-4, 10-12, 8-11, 11-1, 11-0 (43m)
[9/16] Fares Dessouki (EGY) bt Tom Lucas (NED) 11-0, 11-4, 11-3 (16m)
Damien Volland (FRA) bt Abdulaziz Ahmad Kanaan (KUW) 11-2, 11-3, 11-8 (20m)
[5/8] Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Aqeel Ashkanani (KUW) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (23m)
Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) bt Felipe Tovar (COL) 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 (26m)
[9/16] Michael McCue (CAN) bt Christoph Winzer (NED) 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 (19m)
Abhishek Pradhan (IND) bt Remo Handl (SUI) 11-9, 11-5, 11-1 (22m)
[5/8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Vrishab Kotian (IND) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (22m)
Juan Vargas (COL) bt Michal Valenta (CZE) w/o
Arthur Moineau (FRA) bye
Oliver Holland (ENG) bt Manuel Wanner (SUI) 11-1, 11-5, 11-4 (24m)
[5/8] James Earles (ENG) bt Toon van Baekel (BEL) 11-1, 11-6, 11-2 (21m)
Quint Mandil (FRA) bt Matthew Roberts (RSA) 11-4, 11-8, 11-9 (44m)
Alexandre Cogno (FRA) bt Roshan Bharos (NED) 11-4, 11-5, 11-9 (28m)
Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Salman Mohib (PAK) w/o
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Joel Siewerdt (SUI) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (29m)
[9/16] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt Antonio de la Torre (GUA) w/o
Yousef Saleh (KUW) bt Santiago Sevilla (ECU) 11-7, 11-2, 11-9 (18m)
Alfonso Marroquin (COL) bt [9/16] Tom de Mulder (BEL) 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6 (52m)
Dylan Murray (USA) bt Yannick Lindemann (SUI) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)
[9/16] Jerome Dadot (FRA) bt Adam Auckland (ENG) 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (27m)
Ernesto Davila (ECU) bt Josue Enriquez (GUA) w/o
[5/8] Declan James (ENG) bt Yousif Ali (KUW) 11-2, 11-3, 11-6 (15m)
Cedric Kuchen (SUI) bt Guido Ploem (NED) 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (30m)
[9/16] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Thomas Dembinski (USA) 11-1, 11-1, 11-4 (27m)
Durandt Martin (RSA) bt Johannes Herz (GER) 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 16-18, 11-6 (52m)
[9/16] Nicholas Hopcroft (ENG) bt Liam McClintock (USA) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 (21m)
Andres de Frutos (COL) bye
[9/16] Tyler Osborne (CAN) bt Edward Columbia (USA) 11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7 (44m)
Martin Svec (CZE) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-13, 11-5 (61m)
[2] Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) bt Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL) 11-7, 11-1, 11-7 (32m)
2nd round line-up:
[1] Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) v Kush Kumar (IND)
[9/16] Fares Dessouki (EGY) v Damien Volland (FRA)
[5/8] Ramit Tandon (IND) v Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT)
[9/16] Michael McCue (CAN) v Abhishek Pradhan (IND)
[5/8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v Juan Vargas (COL)
Arthur Moineau (FRA) v Oliver Holland (ENG)
[5/8] James Earles (ENG) v Quint Mandil (FRA)
Alexandre Cogno (FRA) v Valentin Rapp (GER)
[9/16] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
Alfonso Marroquin (COL) v Yousef Saleh (KUW)
[9/16] Jerome Dadot (FRA) v Dylan Murray (USA)
[5/8] Declan James (ENG) v Ernesto Davila (ECU)
[9/16] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v Cedric Kuchen (SUI)
[9/16] Nicholas Hopcroft (ENG) v Durandt Martin (RSA)
[9/16] Tyler Osborne (CAN) v Andres de Frutos (COL)
[2] Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) v Martin Svec (CZE)
Official event website: www.wjm2011.be