Defending champion Zakaria on going back-to-back on home soil

Defending World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria will play his fourth World Juniors in Cairo next week. The 17-year-old and World No.14 Zakaria of Alexandria will be aiming to defend the title he won last year in Houston, when he became the youngest ever male World Squash Junior Champion with victory over Republic of Korea’s Jooyoung Na.

Zakaria goes into the 2025 World Junior Championships as No.1 seed and is hoping that the tournament on home soil will support his goal of defending the title and Egypt in the team event. “It would be nice to win on home soil,” Zakaria said. “I’d have my friends and family all coming to cheer for me. Honestly, for me, it would feel like I’m playing a local tournament, because you’d find all the Egyptians laying around the court and cheering from everywhere, smashing the glass, so it would really feel like another local tournament for me. “But it would it would be nice to win another one in front of my family and friends and people I love.”

From 2022 to 2025

When Zakaria made his debut at World Juniors in Nancy, France in 2022, he was one of the youngest players in the Egyptian squad. Four seasons later, he’s broken into the top 20 male players in the world. He recalls fond memories of his first World Juniors competition and how he feels about his player position ahead of the 2025 instalment next week. “Nancy is a beautiful city in France. We had this restaurant we would go to every day and I think it was called Angelouzou. It sucks because I don’t think it’s a chain. It had the craziest food ever like gnocchi and it was just so so delicious. “In 2022, I was with a nice group of teammates. I was 14 and definitely went in to the competition without any expectations. I made it to the semi-finals. That was huge because I think I was the youngest ever to make it to that stage. So starting it like that gave me a sense of how big this is and how big the journey is going to get. So this was my first memory of World Juniors and France was a bit special. “I think my world ranking and seeding for this tournament gives me another boost because I know the level I can bring and I think it would give the rest of the players I’m playing against in the World Juniors a sense of what they’re up against. “Even though I might be younger than some of the teammates still on this team, my experience in past World Junior events and on the PSA Squash Tour creates a tone of respect.”

Getting to World No.14

Growing up in Alexandria, Zakaria was coached by Ahmed “Vito” Shohayeb. Vito was coach to eight-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini, 2025 U23 World Champion Fayrouz Aboelkheir, Jana Swaify and Mohamad Zakaria.

Whilst Vito currently works as a coach in the US, he and Zakaria still remain in close contact. “Vito is the reason I’m sitting here today,” Zakaria said. “He started working with me from when I was, I think, ten up until seventeen and we’re still talking. “I still call him before matches and speak to him about game plans, what should I think about,  things like that. “I think I got to the place where I am now because of how keen he was, how disciplined he was. We would play sessions for three hours. “But he would always have a balanced approach of how to push me at the right times. “He’s very knowledgeable. He knows a lot about the game and watches a huge amount of squash.” Zakaria will feature both in the individual boys’ event and as part of the team event representing the host country. For information about the seedings and draws ahead of competition, click here. The 2025 World Squash Junior Championships are taking place at Black Ball Sporting Club, Cairo, Egypt from July 21-01 August. Watch the action live and free on WORLDSQUASH.TV and select partner channels including Myco. For the latest World Squash news, follow World Squash on Facebook, In