01/08/2026
World Junior Squash Team and Individual Championships 2026
Two local Rondebosch boys have represented their school, province and country at the highest level of international competition over the past two weeks in Canada. Joseph Feast and Dylan Keswell are the top 2 players in the U19A RBHS and WPJS teams. They train together at the Duminy Academy and play for WPCC and Villagers Squash Clubs respectively.
The World Championships include the top players from around the world, some of whom are already competing on the PSA circuit. The Egyptian player, Mohamed Zacharia, who won the U19 event, is currently ranked #7 on the men’s pro tour, so the standard at the tournament is incredibly high. South Africa is still growing and developing as a top squash-playing nation and the 4-person teams (one boys and one girls) will have learned a lot from their experience of competing against the best juniors in the world.
Three players compete in each fixture and the team which wins 2 matches is the winner. Sometimes, the dead rubber is not played, if one team is ahead 2-0. In the men’s event, South Africa played 5 matches against England, Hong Kong China, Scotland, Netherlands and Mexico. Dylan played against England and Mexico at the #3 position. He lost against England and won against Mexico. Joseph played at the #2 position against Hong Kong China, Scotland and Netherlands and won all three of his world team matches. The final rubber of the match against Mexico was not played. The South African team beat Netherlands and Mexico, lost 0-3 to England and lost 1-2 to Scotland and Hong-Kong China. The men’s team squeaked into a top 20 finish at #19, ahead of Macau China, Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, Nigeria and Mexico. The players were all extremely competitive and gave of their best throughout the tournament. They can be very proud of all that they have learnt and achieved on the world stage.
Next stop will be the Top Schools Tournament in Pietermaritzburg next weekend! Rondebosch is one of the top 8 schools that will be competing in this national schools’ event and Joe and Dylan will be leading the U19A side at this prestigious event alongside Charlton Webb-Smith, Farhaan Patel, Theo Du Plessis and Connor Rosslee.
