US Squash has announced the twelve young men and women set to represent Team USA on home soil at the 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships, July 12-23, at the Houston Squash Club in Texas.
The 2024 World Juniors marks the first time the event has been held in the United States since Boston hosted the 2011 World Junior Women’s Team Championship. For the first time in tournament history, both the World Junior Women’s Team Championship and World Junior Men’s Team Championship–previously held on a biennial basis–will be held alongside each other in addition to the annual World Junior Individual Championships.
A record forty-six teams will compete in the tournament this summer–including sixteen federations sending both a junior men’s and women’s team.
The U.S. squad will feature a mix of youth and experience with five returning members of the 2023 World Juniors squad, and seven players set for their debuts.
After returning to the podium for the first time since 2015 last year, the World Junior Women’s Team Will be led by the experienced U.S. junior champion Caroline Fouts (NY) and finalist Riya Navani (CA), and Caroline Eielson (MA) who returns for her second World Juniors. Charlotte Pastel (CT), Samantha Jaffe (PA) and Dixon Hill (OH) will all make their tournament debuts.
“The team is really excited to represent their country on home soil this summer,” said Scott Devoy, U.S. Junior Women’s Head Coach. “With the experience of the team–Caroline Fouts, Riya Navani and Caroline Eielson all having been in Australia last summer–they are determined to build on the successes of previous teams. With Dixon Hill, Charlotte Pastel and Sam Jaffe joining the team we have one of the deepest squads in the event. Competing with ‘home court’ advantage will absolutely bring out the best in this team and they will bring the best out of each other. Together with the boys team, there is a different level of excitement to be able to compete side by side this year, for the first time! Huge thanks to US Squash and the Houston Squash community for putting on what will be a memorable event.”
The U.S. Junior Men’s team will aim to build on a seventh place finish at the 2022 World Junior Men’s Team Championship. Rishi Srivastava (PA) and Zane Patel (CA) will both make their third and final World Juniors appearances. Rustin Wiser (NY)–the U.S. Junior Champion, Alexander Dartnell (FL)–the U.S. Junior finalist, Oscar Okonkwo (PA) and Nathan Rosezwieg (MD) will all make their World Juniors debuts.
“The Junior Men’s Team are ready to go all out at the world championships this summer,” said Luke Butterworth, U.S. Junior Men’s Head Coach. “This year we have a wealth of experience with Rishi and Zane leading the charge. They are accompanied with very strong talent with Rustin, Alex, Oscar and Nathan who are hungry to show what they can produce on the world’s biggest stage in their first world championships. Playing on home soil will provide some extra support for our players from the local community in Houston and we are looking forward to doing the nation proud this summer. There is a lot of excitement from the players and coaching staff this year as we are all training hard to be successful this summer. Each year we crave the international competitions to put the best foot forward for Team USA against the rest of the world and there is certainly a special buzz around this squad and we are ready to unleash our best selves this summer.”