Abdullah Nawaz, Nauman Khan, Mohammad Umair Arif, Yahya Khan to represent Pakistan
Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD: The World Squash Junior Individual and Team Championships will kick off on July 20, 2026 at the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, as the under-19 players from 24 nations will fight for the titles. Abdullah Nawaz, Nauman Khan, Mohammad Umair Arif and Yahya Khan will represent Pakistan in the prestigious squash fixture of the world.
The 12-day championships will see 40 teams compete across 24 nations, with the men’s and women’s events held concurrently following the tournament change in 2024. In the men’s event, 24 teams are set to compete, with two additional teams participating in this championship from last year in Cairo, Egypt.
In the women’s competition, there will also be 16 teams that feature, with the same number of participating federations as the 2025 championships. 16 federations will send both a men’s and women’s team, including hosts Canada and defending men’s and women’s champions Egypt.
Nigeria’s women will make their event debut, while their men’s team will compete for the first time since 1996. Other federations returning after a long absence include Mexico, who have a men’s team competing for the first time since 2010, and the Netherlands, who will return to the men’s team championship for the first time since 2022.
Names of participating countries (24):
Australia (Both), Brazil (Both), Canada (Both), Chinese Taipei (Both), Egypt (Both), England (Both), France (Men’s), Germany (Men’s), Hong Kong, China (Both), India (Both), Ireland (Both), Japan (Both), Kuwait (Men’s), Macau, China (Both), Malaysia (Both), Mexico (Men’s), Netherlands (Men’s), New Zealand (Both), Nigeria (Both), Pakistan (Men’s), South Africa (Both), Scotland (Men’s), Switzerland (Men’s), USA (Both)
A total of 185 players aged 18 and under are set to compete in both the men’s and women’s draws. Among the star names confirmed for this year’s World Juniors is World No.7 and two-time World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria, who will be looking to make history and become the first ever player to claim a historic third Men’s title.
India’s No.1 Anahat Singh will also be looking to claim her first World Junior Women’s Championship, with the World No.20 hoping to go one step further after being eliminated in the 2025 semi-finals.
Joining the two high-ranked stars will be France’s European U19 Champion Amir Khaled-Jousselin, Hong Kong, China’s Asian U19 Champion Helen Tang, Pan Am Junior Champion Fiorella Gatti and Australia’s Oceania U19 Champion Sarbani Maitra.
Names of players:
Australia: Kasper Cheung (M), Stanley Chung (M), Ethan Middleton (M), Henry Kross (M), Joanne Joseph (F), Sarbani Maitra (F), Tina Ma (F), Lilly Wilson (F)
Austria: Kristina Begeba (F)
Barbados: Daniel Sealy (M)
Belgium: Maddox Moxham (M), Corentin Boniver (M), Savannah Moxham (F), Alice Allard (F)
Brazil: Viggo Hendricks (M), Owen Hendricks (M), Matheus Frabetti (M), Bernardo Jorge Guimarães (M), Laura Souza Bezerra da Silva (F), Giulia Colleoni (F), Alix Borges (F), Sara Guerra Barboza (F)
Canada: Colten McLaughlin (M), Calder Murray (M), Yusuf Matti Alvarez (M), Anderson Brown (M), Wing Kai Gladys Ho (F), Joelle Kim (F), Sasha Lee (F), Veera Dhaliwal (F)
Colombia: Maria Gomez (F), Maria Camila Sabogal (F)
Chinese Taipei: Pan Hong-Rui (M), Shao Hung Peng (M), Youan Lee (M), Shao-Chien Peng (M), Cordelia Wan-Ya Hsu (F), Yeuk Hei Hebe Chan (F), Yu-Chia Wu (F), Wei-Yu Pan (F)
Egypt: Mohamad Zakaria (M), Marwan Assal (M), Seifeldin Refaay (M), Adam Hawal (M), Malika Elkaraksy (F), Ruqayya Salem (F), Barb Sameh (F), Habiba Rizk (F)
England: Dylan Roberts (M), Ronnie Hickling (M), Ismail Khalil (M), Gabriel Chak (M), Eve Parkins (F), Emily Coulcher-Porter (F), Reka Kemecsei (F), Harriet Broadbridge (F)
France: Amir Khaled-Jousselin (M), Théo Baudry (M), Kousha Moslehi (M), Leo Gailland (M), Leelou Laporte (F)
Germany: Levi Visser (M), Oleksii Bielikov (M), Owen Hecker (M), Alessio Fumagalli (M)
Hong Kong, China: Long Hin Larry Wong (M), Ting To Brogan Cheng (M), Pak To Lau (M), Chun Hin Ho (M), Tsz Ching Cheung (F), Helen Tang (F), Ena Kwong (F), Pui Yin Chloe Lo (F)
India: Aryaveer Dewan (M), Yusha Nafees (M), Gurveer Singh (M), Purav Rambhia (M), Anahat Singh (F), Rudra Singh (F), Anika Dubey (F), Saanvi Kalanki (F)
Indonesia: Mohammad Razka Idhmi Sulaeman (M)
Ireland: Aaron Knox (M), Conal Jackson (M), Christian Dromgoole (M), Tyler Dromgoole (M), Rebecca Jackson (F), Shriya Drawid (F), Zoe Yeomans (F)
Japan: Ren Makino (M), Shunsaku Kariyazono (M), Shu Takahashi (M), Haruto Mori (M), Anna Kuwahara (F), Himari Midorikawa (F), Emily Senior (F), Rio Yoshino (F)
Kuwait: Khaled Walead Al Fouzain (M), Abdullah Ali (M), Abdul Rahman Al Sanea (M), Abdulrahman Alkandari (M),
Macau, China: Keng In Leong (M), Ka Hei Lei (M), Ian Miguel De Sousa (M), Wu Cheok Io (M), Sierra Chi Cheng Cao (F), Ianna Chi Ian Cao (F), Lok Iong Huang (F)
Malaysia: Nickhileswar Moganasundharam (M), Aqil Mirza Naim Khairil Fariz (M), Altamis A Sufian (M), Ivan Jia Yu Chang (M), Harleein Tan (F), Whitney Wilson (F), Doyce Ye San Lee (F), Haneesha Veerakumar (F)
Mexico: Luis Marcos Méndez Lara (M), Carlos Sebastian Buenrostro-Orozco (M), Juan Pablo Ramirez Valencia (M), Alexis Sebastián Martín Rosas (M), Gabriela Valentina Buenrostro-Orozco (F)
Netherlands: Quinten Van Es (M), Yago Daniel Origel Koers (M), Jesper Hempenius (M), Freek Bonnema (M), Renske Huntelaar (F), Elcke Mols (F)
New Zealand: Maximus Mathews (M), Vihan Chathury (M), Ciaran Manning (M), Jack Lord (M), Amalia Ricketts (F), Brooke Valois (F), Liberty Jones (F), Charlee Neilson (F)
Nigeria: Yusuf Quadri (M), Shuaib Giwa (M), Joshua Daniel (M), Monday Benjamin (M), Mosturah Durosinlorun (F), Awawu Balogun (F), Delight Allison (F), Khadija Abdulraheem (F)
Pakistan: Abdullah Nawaz (M), Nauman Khan (M), Mohammad Umair Arif (M), Yahya Khan (M)
Paraguay: Fiorella Gatti (F)
Peru: Carlos Torres (M), Amaro Castillo (M)
Portugal: Sophia Akbar (F), Kiara Fernandes (F)
Saudi Arabia: Mohammed Alnasfan (M), Hassan Aldawood (M)
Scotland: Murdo Mackenzie (M), Cailean McAlpine (M), John Green (M), Zack Paton (M), Ella Bannister (F)
South Africa: Juan-Corné Brand (M), Joseph Feast (M), Benjamin Newman (M), Dylan Keswell (M), Starla Phillips (F), Brianna Robinson (F), Makayla Naidoo (F), Vivienne van der Schyff (F)
Spain: Oriol Salvia Ripoll (M)
Sri Lanka: Matheesha Wijesekara (M)
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Jayden George (M)
Sweden Rasmus Taube Eliasson (M), Ivar Sawen (M)
Switzerland: Nick Melvin Greter (M), Leandro Vogel (M), Mika Von Aesch (M), Morris Frey (M)
USA: Yaseen Shalaby (M), Brendan Tagliarini (M), Aiden Chiang (M), Lars Gertsen (M), Diya Yadav (F), Charlotte Sze (F), Lily Bourell (F), Ava Lin (F)
Wales: Nia Seren Thomas (F).
