CAIRO – Egypt’s Amina Orfi and Mohamad Zakaria were crowned 2025 World Squash Junior Champions after delivering commanding victories over compatriots Nadien Elhammamy and Marwan Asal in the finals at Cairo’s Black Ball Sporting Club.
Orfi made history with her triumph, becoming the first player ever to win four World Junior titles—a feat that cements her legacy as one of the sport’s brightest young stars. Already ranked World No.5, the 17-year-old has looked destined for greatness since claiming her first junior crown at age 15 in 2022.
Zakaria, meanwhile, defended his title in style, building on his 2024 breakthrough in Houston, where he became the youngest-ever men’s champion at just 16. His back-to-back titles reinforce his status as a rising force in the men’s game.
The World Squash Junior Championships, held from July 21–26 for individual events and July 27–August 1 for team competitions, gather the globe’s top talent under 19, showcasing the future of the sport in an elite international setting.
With her win last year in Houston drawing her level with national icon Nour El Sherbini – who was in the crowd tonight alongside numerous other legends of Egyptian squash – the final represented an opportunity for Orfi to go one better and become the outright record holder.
If this caused her to feel any pressure, it certainly didn’t show, with Orfi looking composed as she took the first game 11-7.
3/4 seed Elhammamy showed she had the mental strength to beat anyone when she saved eight game balls in a 3-0 upset over No.2 seed Anahat Singh of India.
Although she never gave up, she was unable to counter Orfi’s unerring consistency and accuracy, with Orfi doubling her lead with a dominant 11-5 win.
From here, the final result looked to be a foregone conclusion and, try though she might, Elhammamy could not find a way past Orfi’s defence, and the top seed sealed her historic fourth title with another 11-5 victory.
“I can’t believe it – I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was 10 years old. I knew Nour El Sherbini was the only player to have won it three times before and watching her here in the crowd was special,
“I’m over the moon and it’s very special for me because it’s my home crowd and everyone that I’ve been playing in front of since I was a very young junior,” she said according to psasquashtour.com.
In the men’s final, Zakaria proved he was a level above his competition as he delivered a completely one-sided 3-0 win over compatriot and 3/4 seed Asal.
Asal had shown promising signs in the first game, but could do little to beat the defences of World No.14 Zakaria, with the reigning champion retrieving excellently and punishing any loose shots to take game one 11-5.
From here, frustration seemed to set in for Asal, with the 17-year-old making several mistakes as Zakaria doubled his lead 11-3.
Game three was more of the same, with Zakaria patient despite rallies often breaking down as the number of collisions increased.
The top seed kept his cool, though, calmly going about his business and bringing the contest to a swift end with an 11-4 victory to extend his record in the World Juniors to 13 wins without a game dropped since the final of the 2023 championship.
Afterwards, Zakaria said: “It feels amazing. To do it in front of my parents and all of these legends [Zakaria and Orfi were joined later on court by some of Egypt’s previous champions] in the front row makes it much more memorable. I think I played very well like I would have wanted, I’m very happy with my performances throughout the week and I’m thankful for my team for sticking with me, my parents and truly this amazing crowd. It’s been an amazing week!”
Speaking at the closing ceremony, World Squash President Zena Wooldridge said: “The last few days here we’ve had a packed audience, so thank you all for supporting the event. It’s made the atmosphere fantastic and I don’t think there’s another nation in the world that could support a World Junior Championship like what you have here. It shows how passionate Egypt is about squash and the number of legends you’ve had on court today just confirms that.
“This [Black Ball Sporting Club] is an amazing venue. I came here in 2022 and had my first tour around this venue and immediately thought this is an amazing venue for a World Championships.”
