KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — The Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) expressed satisfaction over the impressive performance of the national players at the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in Islamabad, Pakistan, despite bringing home fewer golds compared to the last edition.
Its coaching director Major (Rtd) S. Maniam described the achievement in the tournament, which ended yesterday, as noteworthy given the increased competitiveness this year, with strong challengers from countries such as the hosts, India, Hong Kong and Japan.
“As I said, the competition is not getting easier; it is getting tougher. The Asian teams are playing better.
“I am happy that overall we have done better than all the other countries. Most importantly, all our programme players made it to the podium; I think that is a great achievement for them,” he told Bernama.
Maniam noted that the achievement in Pakistan indicated that Malaysia has a promising future in squash for many years to come.
Yesterday, Malaysia concluded their campaign by emerging as the best-performing team overall, with a remarkable haul of three golds, two silvers, and nine bronze medals.
Standout performers include U. Thanussa, who played in the girls’ Under-19, M. Nickhileswar (boys’ U-17), and Harleein Tan (girls’ U-15) as they rose to the occasion by securing titles in their respective categories, while fellow compatriots Harith Danial Jefri (boys’ U-19) and Raziq Putra Fakhrur Razi (boy’s U-15) had to settle for silver.
In the previous edition in Dalian, China, the national team clinched five gold and three silver.
Looking ahead, Maniam hopes the junior team will carry the momentum from Islamabad to the 2024 World Junior Squash Championships, which will be held in Houston, the United States, from July 12 to July 23.
“This (world junior meet) is going to be tough. If we can get (to) the top eight in the team and individuals, that would be good,” he said.
— Bernama
