Egypt’s golden era continued on their home court in Cairo as their women’s and men’s sides completed the double in the World Squash Junior Championship team event with victories over USA and Hong Kong, China.
In the women’s event, Egypt made history by winning an unprecedented 10th consecutive title in a run that began in 2007 in Hong Kong.
The men’s side, meanwhile, won their eighth title with a 2-0 win against rising power USA.
The 2025 World Squash Junior Championships, hosted by Black Ball Sporting Club, brought together the world’s best squash talents aged under 19, with the men’s and women’s individual championships having taken place from July 21-26 and the men’s and women’s team championships between July 27 -01 August.
Egypt’s junior women’s side has been an irresistible force for a quarter of a century, appearing in all but one of the finals since 1999 and today’s victory means they have now won 12 of the 14 championships in that time.
Led by World No.5 Amina Orfi, who last week cemented her status as one of the greatest squash players in a generation by becoming the first player to win the individual event four times, Egypt bulldozed their way in front.
Orfi was dominant throughout her 30-minute clash with Tsz-Ching Cheung, controlling rallies with immaculate hitting and leaving Cheung – who battled hard and briefly threatened in game three – in her wake as she took match one 11-3, 11-2, 11-5.
Match two pitted Nadien Elhammamy, runner up in the individual championship, against Ena Kwong.
Elhammamy showed no signs of nerves in the opener, controlling proceedings as she took game one 11-5 then moved within a game of the title by taking game two 11-6.
Kwong briefly threatened a comeback in game three as she opened up a lead at the midway point, but Elhammamy stuck to her task well, reeling in Kwong and then rapidly stringing together the points she needed to wrap up the tie with an 11-7 victory.
In the men’s final, men’s individual champion Mohamad Zakaria went up first against USA’s Alexander Dartnell.
Zakaria looked relaxed in game one, smiling throughout even when dropping points as he took the lead 11-4.
The smiles were gone in game two, though, as Dartnell upped the pressure on Zakaria as space got tighter.
The Egyptian was able to keep ahead, however, moving 2-0 up with an 11-7 win.
Game three followed a similar pattern to game two, with space hotly contested and collisions more frequent. Zakaria saw two match balls saved when he led at 10-7. At 10-9, a closely contested rally was sent to the Video Referee by the match referee and, after a tense wait, a no let was given and Zakaria claimed the match to put Egypt in the driving seat.
Individual event runner up Marwan Asal quickly built on Zakaria’s platform in match two, firing Egypt further ahead as he took game one 11-5 against Christian Capella.
Capella competed much better in game two, testing Asal’s retrievals during some high octane rallies.
Asal held out, though, moving 2-0 up with an 11-9 win to put Egypt on the brink of the title.
Some of the Egyptian’s best qualities were on show in game three, displaying his incredible athleticism and attacking prowess as he charged on after an even start to complete the win 11-5, with the 17-year-old then conducting the crowd in their applause as his teammates returned to the court to celebrate.
Reflecting on the title double, Egypt Team Manager Sara El Noamany said: “We’re so proud of them. It wasn’t easy and it definitely didn’t come without a lot of hard work and planning from the coaches, Federation, the clubs and of course the players themselves. We’re super proud that it all paid off in the end and we hope this continues, passing the torch to the next generation.”
Result: 2025 World Squash Junior Team Championships Women’s Final
[1] Egypt 2-0 Hong Kong, China [2]
Amina Orfi bt Tsz-Ching Cheung 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-5
Nadien Elhammamy bt Ena Kwong 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-7
Sohayla Hazem w/d Helen Tang
Result: 2025 World Squash Junior Team Championships Men’s Final
[1] Egypt 2-0 USA [2]
Mohamad Zakaria bt Alexander Dartnell 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-9
Marwan Asal bt Christian Capella 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-5
Eaid Daoud w/d Jack Elriani