Historic WSF Junior World Championships Take Place in Houston, USA – World Squash

The first WSF Junior World Team Championships to feature simultaneous men’s and women’s events are underway at the Houston Squash Club in the United States.

The WSF Junior World Team Championships, which feature four-player teams from national federations around the world, take place immediately following the conclusion of last night’s individual championships.

Egyptian number one Mohamad Zakaria, who less than 24 hours earlier became the youngest man to be crowned WSF junior world champion after winning the individual final, chose not to take a day off. Instead, he finished the game for his team as they beat Switzerland in men’s Pool A to begin their bid to reclaim the title, which they lost to England in 2022.

Women’s individual champion and Egyptian number one Amina Orfi, meanwhile, opted to recover after a tough final against team-mate Fayrouz Aboelkheir yesterday, with Aboelkheir promoted to number one as the women’s team brushed aside France to begin their title defence.

The Philippines and Macau, China also made their debuts. The Philippines faced Korea Republic, where Jude Bas, Christopher Buraga and Jonathan Reyes lost to Jeong Uk Ryu, Kun Kim and Seojin Oh.

Macau, China, meanwhile, faced defending champions England. Despite being a completely new team to the one that won the men’s team title in France two years ago, the English trio of Dylan Roberts, Bailey Malik and AbdAllah Eissa were more than a match for Chin Ka Nam, Ka Hei Lei and Keng In Leong, with England winning all three matches in straight sets.

Despite the defeat, Macau, China coach Steven Liu felt the match had been positive for his team’s development: “We are very happy to be here, to play our first Junior World Team Championship. It’s great here, the atmosphere is very good and they are having fun.”

“I thought they played well. They were obviously nervous about playing the champions but they want to get to the same level as England, catch them and learn something from them.

“Squash is becoming more and more popular in Macau and as the players get older, more and more children will want to play, this is that stage.”

Brazil made a welcome return after a 12-year absence, and their women’s team fought hard but failed to upset Hong Kong, China, who moved top of Group D after beating Brazil in the evening and Australia in the morning.

Reflecting on the possibility of hosting men’s and women’s championships together, WSF Vice President Pablo Serna said: “I think it makes the competition even more special; it keeps the lively atmosphere of hundreds of the world’s best junior talents on court and also makes squash more gender-equal, which is a real priority for our sport.”

The group stage of the 2024 WSF Junior World Team Championships resumes tomorrow, July 19, starting at 10:00 (GMT-5). Join us on WORLDSQUASH.TV to watch all the action live and for free.

Click here to view all the results from the first day of the team events, Click here to consult the program for the second day, and Click here to see the current pool rankings.

The 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships will be held at the Houston Squash Club in Texas from July 12-23. Find all the key information here.

Follow all the action on wsfworldjuniors.com.

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