So excited is Pakistan’s Hamza Khan ahead of the defence of his world junior title that he claimed to be training at midnight in preparation.
Yet, teams and officials heading to Houston are experiencing some sleepless nights as the city manages to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl which has lashed Houston with heavy rains and powerful winds.
The 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships are taking place at Houston Squash Club, Texas, which start on Friday and run until July 23.
But teams such as England are scrambling to reach the venue on time for the singles matches.
It is reported that they have managed to get a flight on Thursday lunchtime, arriving just hours before the first set of matches are due to begin, after their slated flight was cancelled.
The category one hurricane started on Sunday and finished on Tuesday afternoon leaving one million customers without power and 1,000 flights cancelled.
It is also reported that the Houston Squash Club has experienced no significant damage, with only “minor leaks”.
Squash Mad has requested a statement from the World Squash Federation.
Update July 11:
The WSF confirmed on Thursday that the WSF World Junior Squash Championships will begin as scheduled on Friday.
The impact caused by Hurricane Beryl, which hit Texas on Monday, had disrupted travel plans for a number of teams, but all have been able to arrange transportation to arrive in Houston in time for the start of the championships.
“The WSF would like to recognise the monumental efforts made by all travelling teams, as well as US Squash and Houston Squash Club, to overcome the challenges posed by Hurricane Beryl.
“A special thanks also goes out to the clubs around the world that were able to provide temporary training facilities for a number of teams whose travel plans were disrupted by the extreme weather.”