Team USA closed out a historic WSF World Junior Championships with the U.S. Junior Women recording its fourth second place finish in program history–and first since 2015–and the U.S. Junior Men matching its best performance with its third bronze medal podium finish Tuesday, July 23, at the Houston Squash Center.
The World Junior Teams marked a historic first with the World Junior Men’s and Women’s Team Championships staged alongside each other having previously been held on an alternating biennial basis. Team USA made a statement in the new format by matching its two best finishes in program history with both the U.S. Junior Men’s and Women’s teams reaching the podium together on home soil.
The U.S. Junior Women completed a stellar tournament by reaching the final without dropping an individual match and fulfilling their two seed. Led by No. 1 Caroline Fouts and No. 2 Riya Navani, Team USA met defending champions and top seeds Egypt in the final. Egypt’s individual world champion and world No. 13 Amina Orfi and world No. 17 Fayrouz Abouelkheir displayed their professional prowess in the final, however, clinching the title with two 3-0 victories.
The U.S. Junior Women’s second place finish marks the program’s fourth after three consecutive silver medals in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Egypt have now won nine consecutive World Junior Women’s Team titles.
The U.S. Junior Men’s tournament matched another high water mark for the program as the team reached its third semifinal in tournament history. The U.S. lost out 2-0 against a talented Korean team in the semifinals–who proved to be the surprise package of the tournament as they reached the nation’s first ever World Teams final.
The U.S. Junior Men add to their bronze medal finishes in 2016 and 2018. Egypt would go on to win the final and lift the World Junior Men’s Team title for the first time in six years.
Individually, U.S. No. 1 Caroline Fouts added to Team USA’s historic accomplishments by becoming the first individual medalist since Amanda Sobhy in 2011.
“Where I can start, those two weeks have been nothing but special and memorable, I’m so proud of all our boys and girls,” said Karim Ibrahim, US Squash Director of Junior National Teams. “Our girls had an amazing run to the final beating Malaysia in the semis–revenge from last year–and showed character against formidable Egypt in the final! Big shoutout to Captain Caroline Fouts and our No. 2 Riya Navani for exemplifying tremendous leadership and persistence. Our boys rose up to the challenge by showing character and grit to make it the semis. Beating strong teams such as France, Japan and South Africa is a step in the right direction. They definitely wrote history by being on the podium simultaneously and for matching previous records. This is a step in the right direction for sure. We will learn from it and continue to grow as an organization and a team and hope we capture gold in the future!”
The 2024 World Juniors marked the third time the World Juniors have been held in the United States. Houston joins fellow hosts Boston in 2011 and Princeton in 1998.
For more tournament coverage and to watch match replays visit wsfworldjuniors.com.