For the second year in a row, the U.S. Junior Men and Women have reached the World Junior Team Championship alongside each other following quarterfinal wins over France Wednesday, July 30, at Black Ball Sporting Club in New Cairo Egypt.
Watch the semifinals live on worldsquash.tv from 10am local time, 3am ET. For more tournament coverage and information visit wsfworldjuniors.com. Follow @USSquash on Instagram for more on-the-ground coverage.
The U.S. Junior Women, the three seeds, found themselves 1-0 down in their match up against six-seeded France with Ines Guyot defeating Samantha Jaffe 3-1 in the No. 2 position to open proceedings. Captain Alexandra Jaffe followed her twin sister on court and leveled the match score with a 3-0 win. U.S. No. 3 Charlotte Pastel stepped up to clinch a semifinal spot for Team USA with a confident 3-0 win.
The U.S. women will bid to reach the program’s fifth World Junior Teams final against two seeds Hong Kong in the semifinals Thursday at 10am local time, 3am ET.
The U.S. Junior Men entered the team competition as two seeds, and faced a tough French side in the quarterfinals. Sixteen-year-old Jack Elriani put the U.S. on the board first, winning the opening match 3-0. France won ensuing No. 1 match up 3-1 to set up another decisive third match. U.S. No. 3 Oscar Okonkwo sealed the win with a confident 3-0 performance to send the U.S. into its fourth World Junior Teams semifinal in program history.
The U.S. Junior Men have a chance to make history by reaching the program’s first final on Thursday against five seeds India, who upset three seeds Korea. The men’s semifinal will follow on court after the U.S. women at 12:30pm local time, 5:30am ET.
