WSF World Junior Squash Championships 20 July – 31 July 2026, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada
The 2026 World Squash Junior Team Championships got underway with an exciting opening day of action at White Oaks Resort & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The World Squash Junior Championships bring together the world’s best under-19 squash players, with the men’s and women’s individual championships having taken place from July 20–25 and the men’s and women’s team championships being contested from July 26–31.
Teams looked to make the best possible start to their group stage campaigns, with everything to play for in pursuit of a favourable second-round draw.
Among the teams that started strong were the hosts, with Canada’s women’s team opening their campaign with a straight-games victory over Nigeria.
Nigeria, who are making their debut in this year’s women’s team event, put up a strong fight against the hosts but were unable to convert their chances into games.
With today’s string order of 3-2-1, the hosts were able to build early momentum, with Sasha Lee, Joelle Kim and Wing Kai Gladys Ho securing the points with straight-games victories over Nigeria’s Delight Allison, Awawu Balogun and Mosturah Durosinlorun.
Despite the defeat, head coach and technical director of the Nigeria Squash Federation, Jonah Ibrahim Attah, reflected positively on the women’s team debut.
“It is a huge honour, and we are very excited about being here.”
And while it was a strong start for the hosts, it unfortunately was not the same for Canada’s men’s team, who suffered defeat as No.8 seeds Japan took control of the contest, with Shu Takahashi, Ren Makino and Shunsaku Kariyazono defeating Yusuf Matti Alvarez, Calder Murray and No.1 string Colten McLaughlin.
Throughout today’s action, most of the higher-seeded teams progressed comfortably, with the USA and England men’s teams both getting off to flying starts. The USA defeated Scotland and Ireland, while England recorded victories over Hong Kong, China and South Africa.
In the women’s draw, No.2 seeds Hong Kong, China also started positively, recording a straight-games victory over No.10 seeds Ireland.
No.7 seed Australia also started well with a 3-0 win over No.15 seeds New Zealand. Despite the scoreline, the contest did not reflect the competitiveness of New Zealand’s performance, with Amalia Ricketts pushing Sarbani Maitra to a gruelling five-game battle. Brooke Valois also challenged Australia’s Joanne Joseph, taking a game off her in a four-game contest, and Liberty Jones also pushed Tina Ma to the limit, with Ma eventually securing the victory 11-7, 11-8, 11-9.
Meanwhile, defending champions Egypt made the perfect start to their defence of the World Junior Team titles, with the women’s team securing a straight-games victory over Brazil, while the men’s team, who featured twice, recorded victories over the Netherlands in the morning session and New Zealand in the evening.
The World Squash Junior Team Championships continue tomorrow, 27 July, with play beginning at 10:00 (GMT-4).
The action will be streamed live on WORLDSQUASH.TV.
Click here to view all the results from Day One .
Click here to view the schedule for Day Two.
For the latest World Squash news, follow World Squash on Facebook, Instagram, Threads,TikTok,LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) or subscribe to the World Squash Newsletter.
