SEPANG, Feb 14 — Teamwork, trust and good communication between the players proved crucial to the national women’s squash team’s success in defending the Asian Junior Team Championship crown for the fourth straight time in Chennai, India on Sunday (February 12).
The team, comprising teenagers Aira Azman, J. Yasshmita, Whitney Isabelle Wilson and Doyce Lee, were head and shoulders above their rivals en route to extending Malaysia’s domination, having also won in 2015, 2017 and 2019 — despite this being their first appearance.
Acting as the women’s team skipper, 18-year-old Aira expressed her immense gratitude for the success and described the hard work put in as being worthwhile, especially when she had to guide the two 15-year-olds — Whitney Isabelle and Doyce.
“Before going (to India, there was some pressure because hopes were high on us to defend the title. So, I think we did well and everyone handled the pressure well.
“If you were to ask me, the key to our victory is believing in each other and communication because teamwork made the dream work.
Although I lost when we played against India in the semi-finals (February 11), we still won 2-1 to advance to the final because we, as a team, brought our ‘A’ game and had great understanding,” she told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), here yesterday.
Commenting on the championship, Aira, winner of the 2022 Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships, is confident that Whitney Isabelle and Doyce can shoulder the challenge of defending the Asian Junior Team Championship for the fifth time based on their performance in India, since she and Yasshmita, 18, will be overaged when the next edition comes along.
The national women’s team emerged champions after defeating Hong Kong 2-0 in the final while the national men’s junior team finished third after losing 2-0 to Pakistan in the semi-finals yesterday.
— Bernama
