Fadaely’s long-awaited green and gold moment

After falling short of selection two years ago, Sophie Fadaely will earn her first senior cap at the 2026 World Squash Teams Championships in Korea.

The Queenslander will make her senior international debut alongside fellow first-timer Erin Classen, with Fadaely’s strong performances in the Oceania events in March this year confirming her rise to being one of Australia’s leading women. “Honestly, I’m over the moon,” Fadaely said.

“I’ve never represented Australia as a senior, so getting my first senior cap is just such a nice end to the year.

“It’s definitely been a tough year injury-wise, so I’m excited to be back and hopefully performing at my best. I’m obviously going to give it my all for my country.”

Fadaely was left disappointed after missing selection two years ago, but used that experience as motivation to prove herself on the national stage.

“I was pretty disappointed to miss out on making the team two years ago. I was probably really on the borderline, so I’m honestly so happy to make it this year,” she said.

“I got some good results to prove myself at the start of the year, which I needed to, and it’s always something that’s on my radar.

“For everyone in the team, it’s such an honour to represent Australia.”

Fadaely will join a young Australian squad in Korea and believes the team environment could bring out the best in the group.

“It’s quite a young team, with both Erin and I in the team for the first time, and the boys’ team is quite young as well,” she said.

“It’s exciting for the future.”

The significance of pulling on the green and gold extends well beyond the court for Fadaely, particularly for her family and the squash community back home in Cairns.

“Wearing the green and gold means more than just playing for yourself. It’s definitely a big honour for your family as well,” she said.

“I know my family are super proud of me and everyone back in Cairns will be feeling the same.

“Representing Australia is something else, and getting selected shows all the individual hard work and allows you to play in that really exciting team format.”

Fadaely has not forgotten the people who helped her reach this point, with the Cairns squash community playing a major role throughout her junior career.

“We just have some of the most amazing coaches and the best people, really,” she said.

“The coaches we have, Mark Forster and Steve Finitsis, are the backbone of Cairns squash. They’re keeping it going. We’ve got a great bunch of juniors and the junior parents are amazing.”

Now she is hoping to return the favour – even if that means handing down some of her Australian shirts.

“I try to give them all my hand-me-down shirts,” Fadaely said.

“I have a few of them in old Australian shirts that I gave them a few years ago and, for me, that’s special.

“Representing Australia is amazing, and it means I’ll get some new kit to donate back to the Cairns juniors.”

Before Korea, Fadaely will focus on getting back into tournament competition following her injury lay-off, before stepping up preparations with the Australian team.

“I haven’t actually played a tournament in a while, so getting back into that competition environment is really important for me,” she said.

“At Carrara, the National Centre, they’ll be putting us into some hard work – lots of pressure sessions and lots of fitness work.

“We’re 100 per cent going to be at our peak fitness, ready for the event, match-ready and ready to give it our all. No excuses.”