A delegation of thirty American juniors competed in the Egyptian Junior Open–one of the world’s most competitive international junior tournaments–August 6-10, at the Madinaty Sporting Club in New Cairo, Egypt.
The Egyptian Junior Open took place following the conclusion of the 2025 World Junior Championships in Cairo, and featured some of the same talent, and future world juniors players in U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19 age divisions.
2025 marked the second year that Team USA supported a U.S. delegation at the Egyptian Junior Open.
Notable U.S. results included Azlan Khan reaching the BU11 final where he lost in five games, Graeson Smith reaching the BU13 final where he lost against the Egyptian No. 1, Queenie Zhang placing fourth in the GU11 and Loretta Pochoda-Nowell marking her Team USA debut with a seventh place finish in the GU11s.
U.S. Coaches included US Squash Director of Junior National Teams Karim Ibrahim, Ronny Vlassaks (Squash on Fire), Maha Zein (Bay Club Fremont), Karim Tarek (Corner Squash) and Vanessa Raj (Bay Club Redwood Shores).
“The Egyptian Open gave our players with a special opportunity to test themselves against top international competition early in their junior squash careers,” said Karim Ibrahim, US Squash Director of Junior National Teams. “We hope this experience will inspire them to reach new levels in events like the U.S. Junior Open, British Junior Open and World Junior Championships.”
