WSF World Junior Squash Championships 2022 Wrap-Up

The 2022 WSF World Junior Championship that were held from August 11-21 in Nancy, France with two main events: the Men’s and Women’s Junior Individual Championship and the Men’s Junior Teams Championship has concluded.

Team Canada consisted of Alex Brown (BC), Ocean Ma (BC), Iman Shaheen (ON), Spring Ma (BC) and Maria Min (BC) for the Junior Women’s and Alex Yuzpe (ON), Karim Michael (QC), Syan Singh (ON), Joseph Toth (BC), Mohamed Kamal (QC) and Jacob Lin (BC) for the Junior Men’s. The players were joined by coaches Jonathan Hill (AB) and Robin Clarke (ON) for their time in France.

In the Junior Men’s Individual Championship, the Canadian team fought hard in their quest to become World Champion but were unsuccessful in their efforts; however, they all gained invaluable experience prior to competing in the Junior Men’s Team Championship where they finished in 10th place.

On their journey to a respectable 10th place finish, the team went 2-1 in their qualification pool with wins over Germany (3-0) and Switzerland (3-0) and a loss to Malaysia (2-1). This strong result advanced the team to the Main Draw Round of 16 against the United States where the team was defeated 2-1. The team rebounded with a 2-1 win over Australia to advance to the 9/10th Place final against Ireland but unfortunately were defeated 2-0.

9/10th Place final Result:

  • Syan Singh lost to Dylan Moran 0-3: 7-11, 9-11, 5-11
  • Mohamed Kamal lost to Jack Flynn 1-3: 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 5-11
  • Jacob Lin vs Sean Murphy: Not played

Jacob Lin: “World Juniors is by far the best, most valuable and rewarding tournament I’ve ever played. Not only did I get to compete against some of the best juniors around the world, but I also got to learn so much from them. Huge thanks to my coaches, teammates, and parents for making this experience fun, memorable, and possible.”

Joseph Toth: “The Junior Worlds was an amazing experience from the high level of squash to the great people I met. The opportunity to play at a tournament as big as the worlds was very inspiring and eye-opening to just how high of a level squash can be played at.”

Mohamed Kamal: “I couldn’t think of a better tournament to be my last junior event. The world juniors was an incredible experience where I got to represent Canada alongside my teammates and compete against players from around the globe. It was also a great opportunity to travel abroad and explore a new city and culture while competing in the biggest junior event in the world.”

Coach Robin Clarke: “It was an eye-opening experience, watching the worlds best juniors everyday combined with having the opportunity to coach our national team on a daily basis has really allowed me to return home with a greater knowledge of what is necessary in order for our athletes to compete on the world stage. Working alongside Jonathan Hill was a fantastic opportunity to pick his brain as we discussed all things from tactics to strategies, but also working one on one with each athlete identifying strengths and weaknesses and developing game plans. I can’t wait to jump back on court and start coaching again!”

The Junior Women’s Individual Championship was an experience building event for the Canadian team. The girls performed well and showed a lot of promise competing against the best around the World. The full results are noted below.

Canadian Results for Junior Women’s Individuals:

  • Ocean Ma (BC): 22nd place
  • Maria Min (BC): 24th place
  • Spring Ma (BC): 39th place
  • Alex Brown (BC): 68th place
  • Iman Shaheen (ON): 69th place

Spring Ma: “Having someone as close as a sister at the World Juniors with me really made the experience so much better. We are always there cheering each other on and reminding each other of the goals we’ve set for this tournament. I can say we both surpassed our expectations being some of the youngest players there. It was overall one of the best learning opportunities.”

Ocean Ma: “Being my first Worlds, I didn’t come into the tournament expecting this result. I am so proud of how I just focused on each match and continued pushing myself to my limits. I am overall so grateful for this experience and the opportunity to represent Canada in the game I love the most. I am excited to improve my result in the years to come. Go Canada!”

The week in France was an important experience for these young players in their journey as high-performance athletes. Thank you to the athletes and coaches for representing Canada at the 2022 WSF World Junior Championships!

The WSF World Junior Championships results and pictures from the Canadian team can be found below.

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