After 37 years, Pakistan triumphs at the World Junior Squash Championship.

 Mohamed Zakaria of Egypt loses against Hamza 3-1.

On July 23, 2023, Hamza Khan celebrates his final victory in the World Junior Squash Championship.

KARACHI: In the World Junior Squash Championship in Melbourne on Sunday, Pakistan's Hamza Khan defeated Egypt's Mohamed Zakaria, breaking an almost four-decade trophy drought. 

Hamza's comeback against Zakaria in a 3-1 victory propelled Pakistan back to the top of the squash world rankings. 

Since Jansher Khan won the championship in 1986, it had been 37 years since Pakistan had won the World Junior Squash Championship.

Two consecutive games that went to tiebreakers in the semifinal match between Hamza and Zakaria got the match off to an exciting start. Hamza, though, won the next two games with ease to earn a 3-1 victory.

With a score of 12-10, Zakaria seized the lead in the second game, which lasted 26 minutes.

Another nail-biting battle ensued as the Pakistani, down 8-10, twice prevented the Egyptian from earning a crucial game point, levelling the score at 14-12.

In complete contrast to what everyone saw in the first two games were the following two games. Before ultimately winning the fourth game with a score of 11-6, Hamza won the third game in just 6 minutes with no difficulty.

On Saturday, Hamza will compete in the World Junior Squash Championship final. Melvil Scianimanico of France rallied after falling behind two games and match ball, but Hamza won the last game to advance to the championship match.