Houston Lift-Off For Historic World Team Championships

The first ever WSF World Junior Team Championships to feature concurrent men's and women's events is underway in Houston, Texas, in the USA.

The World Junior Team Championships, which bring together teams of four players from National Federations all over the world, are being played at Houston Squash Club immediately after the conclusion of the individual championships.

Egypt No.1 string Mohamad Zakaria, who less than 24 hours prior became the youngest male player ever to be crowned WSF World Junior Champion after victory in the individual final, opted against a rest day. Instead, he closed out for his side as they cruised past Switzerland in Men's Pool A to begin their bid to reclaim the title, having surrendered it to England in 2022.

Women's individual champion and Egypt No.1 string Amina Orfi, meanwhile, opted to recover after a tough final against her teammate Fayrouz Aboelkheir, with Aboelkheir promoted to No.1 string as the women's team brushed aside France to begin their title defence.

Elsewhere, there were debuts for the Philippines and Macau, China. The Philippines took on Republic of Korea, with Jude Bas, Christopher Buraga and Jonathan Reyes losing out to Jeong Uk Ryu, Kun Kim and Seojin Oh.

Macau, meanwhile, went up against defending men's champions England. Despite bringing an entirely new squad to the one which dramatically captured 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 Canaan, Ka Hei Li and Keng In Leong, with England winning all three matches in straight games.

Despite the defeat, Macau coach Steven Liu reflected on the clash as a positive for his team in their development: "We're very excited to be here, playing our first World Junior Team Championship. It's been great here, the atmosphere is very good and they're enjoying it.

"I think they played well. Obviously, they were nervous to play the champions, but they want to get to the same level as England, to catch up to them and learn something from them.

"Squash is getting more popular in Macau and as the players grow up more kids will want to play, this is a step."

Making a welcome return after a 12-year absence was Brazil, whose women's side fought hard but were unable to upset Hong Kong, who went top of Pool D after a their win over Brazil in the evening and Australia in the morning.

Reflecting on having a men's and women's championships together, WSF Vice President Pablo Serna said: "I think it makes the competition even more special; it maintains the bustling atmosphere of hundreds of the world's best junior talents on court and also makes squash more gender equal, something that is a real priority for our sport."