Republic of Korea continued to rock squash’s status quo as they became the lowest seeded team ever to reach the men’s final of the WSF World Junior Team Championships in Houston, USA.

The Asian side, whose previous best ever finish was 13th in 2010, took down hosts USA to earn a shot at the title against top seeds Egypt. USA’s disappointment will be tempered, however, by the fantastic performance of their No.2 seeded women’s team, which defeated Malaysia to set up a championship tie against defending champions Egypt.

Republic of Korea have defied all expectations over the past week in Houston, with 17-year-old Joo Young Na starring as he made a surprise run to the final to earn a silver medal.

Unsurprisingly, the lightning fast and unnervingly accurate Na was front and centre again today. The Korean made a brutal statement of intent in the first string match against Rustin Wiser – a surprise first string after USA dropped Zane Patel from the lineup – as he recorded a one-sided 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 win to give his side the lead.

In a see-saw and nerve-shredding second match between Jeong Uk Ryu and Alexander Dartnell, it was Ryu who was able to come out on top.

Dartnell initially looked comfortable on court, dominating the ‘T’ as Ryu struggled to find his targets. After dropping the first game 5-11, the Korean third string improved significantly, taking game two 11-8 before going down 3-11 in game three.

In an epic fourth game, Ryu was irrepressible, flinging himself around court as he took the match into a fifth game after edging a tie break 12-10.

The 17-year-old continued to desperately chase every ball in game five, no matter how futile it appeared. Despite the intense physicality of his strategy visibly taking its toll, Ryu’s relentlessness continued unabated, and he was able to make more history for his nation as he clinched the decider 11-8 against the distraught Dartnell.

“I thought I was going to lose because I was so bad in the beginning, but I trusted my teammates and the people who supported me, I think it was a really happy surprise,” Ryu said.

Team captain Seojin Oh added: “I’m very proud of them. We are so happy to win for Korea.”

In tomorrow’s final, Republic of Korea will take on six-time champions Egypt, who appear to have firmly put their pools stage malaise behind them after convincing wins over No.2 seeds Malaysia in the round of 16, reigning champions England in the quarter-finals, and first-time semi-finalists Colombia today, as newly crowned individual champion Mohamad Zakaria set the platform with a 3-0 win over Juan Torres and Marwan Abdelsalam took down Jose Santamaria by the same scoreline.

In the women’s semi-finals, USA proved far too strong for Malaysia as they returned to the final for the first time since 2015.

Led by World No.64 Caroline Fouts, the championship hosts made a perfect start to today’s tie, with the USA team captain dominating the opening game against Thanusaa Uthrian 11-5.

Uthrian played a careful game against Fouts in the second and moved the American around the court well to level with an 11-6 win of her own.

After taking on advice from the US coaching team, Fouts rediscovered her assured touch to give her side the lead with 11-9, 11-4 wins.

Samantha Jaffe then completed the job with a comfortable 3-0 win over Doyce Lee, with the 17-year-old settling after a nervy start to close out 11-5, 11-6, 11-7.

“I’m super proud of the girls and boys,” Director of Junior National Teams Karim Ibrahim said.

“The effort, determination and perseverance they put in is commendable. I feel like the way that they’ve played, the sportsmanship and integrity, was awesome. Obviously the boys were underseeded and gave a really good fight against South Korea, who have been the dark horses of this tournament and we wish them the best of luck in the final. On the women’s side, last year we lost to Malaysia in the semi-final and so it really feels great to take our revenge in such a great fashion. Captain Caroline Fouts and Samantha Jaffe played sublime squash today and we’re really excited for the opportunity to play Egypt tomorrow in the final.

“Our goal is to go all the way, and that includes winning tomorrow.”

USA will face powerhouses and top seeds Egypt in the final. Egypt, winners of the last eight editions of the championships, were at their devastating best against Canada, who were playing in their first women’s semi-final since 1987.

Reigning individual champion Amina Orfi set the tone for Egypt with a comfortable 11-9, 11-0, 11-2 win over Ocean Ma before Janna Swaify ended the contest after two matches by beating Maria Min 11-5, 11-4, 11-8.

The finals of the 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championships take place tomorrow, 23 July, from 12:00 (GMT-5).

Head to WORLDSQUASH.TV to watch all the action live and free.

Results: 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championships – Women’s Semi-Finals

[1] Egypt 2-0 [5/6] Canada
Amina Orfi bt Ocean Ma 3-0: 11-9, 11-0, 11-2
Janna Swaify bt Maria Min 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-8
Fayrouz Aboelkheir w/d Spring Ma

[2] USA 2-0 [4] Malaysia
Caroline Fouts bt Thanusaa Uthrian 3-1: 11-5, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4
Samantha Jaffe bt Doyce Lee 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-7
Riya Navani w/d Whitney Wilson

Results: 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championships – Men’s Semi-Finals

[4] Republic of Korea 2-0 [7] USA
Joo Young Na bt Rustin Wiser 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-5
Jeong Uk Ryu bt Alexander Dartnell 3-2: 5-11, 11-8, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8
Kun Kim w/d Rishi Srivastava

[1] Egypt 2-0 [5] Colombia
Mohamad Zakaria bt Juan Torres 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Marwan Abdelsalam bt Jose Santamaria 3-0: 17-15, 11-8, 11-5
Marwan Assal w/d Juan Irisarri

Draw: 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championships – Women’s Final
[1] Egypt v [2] USA

Draw: 2024 WSF World Junior Team Championships – Men’s Final
[4] Republic of Korea v [1] Egypt

Click here to view all the results from day five of the team events and click here to view the schedule for tomorrow, including in the consolation draws.

The 2024 WSF World Junior Squash Championships are taking place at Houston Squash Club, Texas, from 12-23 July. Find all the key information here.

Keep up with all the action at wsfworldjuniors.com.

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