HONOURS were shared at the Milo Malaysian junior squash international with players from the host country and India winning three titles each while the Aussies notched up two wins and there was one apiece for Singapore and the Netherlands. Close to 500 players from nine countries - Australia, India, Singapore, Japan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Malaysia participated - making this the second largest junior event in the world and the biggest in the continent.
Victories for Alisha Mashruwala (girls' under-13), Joshna Chinappa (girls' under-17) and Saurav Ghoshal (boys' under-15) gave the Indian contingent reason to celebrate. Alisha and Joshna were the top seeds in their respective age groups but Saurav did not figure in the top eight because his past performance had not been provided to the organisers.
But, such things did not seem to matter to the 14-year-old Kolkata youngster who knocked out the top seed Ben Reece (Australia) 9-1, 10-8, 9-2 in the quarter-finals. Saurav attacked from the start and having survived a close call in the second, came through in style. He continued his winning run with another straight games scoreline against Risto Krauss (Australia) and gave local lad Kapil Nesan, the number two seed, no chance in the final. Saurav was by far the best player in this age-group and he proved it with a fine display.
His performance had the Malaysians watching in admiration. "Saurav was the most impressive. He was focussed and gave Kapil little to work with," said Malaysia's head coach Maj. S. Maniam. There were seven Indians in this event. Gautam Kalani had been seeded in the 5-8 bracket but he lost 9-2, 9-1, 9-3 to Mohd. Izam Mahazer (Malaysia) in the fourth round.
Mumbai's Sadiq Madraswala was beaten 9-7, 9-2, 9-7 by his colleague Ritesh Sharma in the third round. Sharma next ran into Ben Reece and lost tamely.
Like Sharma, Sarvesh Chauhan comes from Jindals Sports Club, a three-hour train ride from Mumbai. Chauhan made the third round where he lost to Vivian Rhamanan (Singapore) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1. Rohan Dalal had his baptism by fire and he did not trouble the scorers in his third round match against Singapore's Toe Guo Xiang. Chandigarh's Jas Singh Sekhon went back wiser for the experience after his second round defeat at the hands of Australia's Russell Wegner.
Ramit Tandon was the joint-fifth seed in the boys' under-11 but the Kolkata junior found Mumbai's Jay Dalal too hot to handle. This gave Dalal a quarter-final berth where he met second seed Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) and went out 9-4, 9-0, 9-1. Dalal was involved in the play-offs and did well to end up in fifth position overall.
Parth Jindal and Ishaan Balvani lost in the second round. The event was won by Australia's Spencer Davis who justified his top billing, but only just, as he needed five games to thwart a determined challenge from Ivan Yuen.
The 128-draw boys' under-13 section had Malaysia's Elvinn Keo as the number one seed. He was let off the hook by India's Sandeep Jangra in the quarter-finals with the Mumbai junior looking set for victory when he led 2-1. Keo hung on and went on to win 7-9, 9-3, 9-10, 9-4, 9-2 with Jangra tiring towards the later part of the match. Jangra had earlier defeated his Mumbai compatriot Naishadh Lalwani in the third round.
There were eight Indian entries in this age-group. Chandigarh's Mahir Singh reached the third round as did Mumbai's Joran Diwan, Vikram Malhotra and Jay Bhagat. Jay Bhagat fell to Chandigarh's Harinder Pail Singh, whom he had beaten in the Nationals but this time round, coach A.I. Singh had done a lot of homework and saw his ward exact revenge.
Harinder showed a lot of character in his next match where he beat Daniel Tay (Malaysia) 10-8, 7-9, 7-9, 9-2, 9-6 but the buck stopped there as Australia's Mat Reece proved to be far too strong.
Reece went on to win the event and it was some consolation for his brother's defeat in the boys' under-15 category. He took on Elvinn Yeo and had a 9-6, 9-1, 9-6 victory. In the boys' under-17, Anurag Gill survived a five-game cliff-hanger against Hansul Hashimi (Malaysia), the final scoreline of 9-7, 7-9, 9-3, 9-10, 10-8 a clear reflection of the match.
Gill took a game off the joint-fifth seed Woo Yew Hong in the quarter-finals before bowing out 9-5, 9-6, 2-9, 10-8. Supreet Singh lost to the number two seed Dylan Bennett (Netherlands) in the fourth round. The other Indian in his age group was Vikas Jangra who lost in the third round.
Malaysia's Mohd Azlan Iskandar was the hot favourite for the boys' under-19 title. The Asian champion was tested in the final where he needed four games to defeat Singapore's Mubashir Gul. The Singapore number one had earlier accounted for India's Deepak Yadav 9-2, 9-1, 9-2 in the second round.
There was no Indian entry in the girls' under-11 section. The final result was a surprise with Chua Wen Ya (Singapore) beating the top seed Zulhijjah Azan (Malaysia) 9-2, 6-9, 9-1, 9-2. In the girls' under-13, Mumbai's Alisha Mashruwala brushed aside the early opposition. She found a worthy opponent in local lass Nabilla Ariffin on the final day and had to work her way from a game down to post a 6-9, 9-4, 9-0, 9-3 win.
It was heartening to see Mumbai's Liana Deboo reach the last eight of the girls' under-15. Though she lost 9-0, 9-4, 9-1 to the top seed Skye Miller (Australia), her positive approach was a joy to watch. Miller was beaten by June Tiong (Malaysia) in the final, a turnaround on the seedings but not on the form book.
The under-17 final was expected to be a shoot-out between the Chennai duo of Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy. It turned out to be that way but en route Joshna had to struggle as she was taken to the wire by Australia's Cherelle Kelly in the semifinals. Joshna won 9-4, 5-9, 5-9, 9-7, 9-4. She had been down with a bout of influenza and was far from her best.
It showed again in the final against Vaidehi where she went two games up and then had to produce something special to win the decider.
Supriya Balsekar, Divya Rajan and Bhaktiveda Dhaul were the other three Indians in the under-17 event. Divya lost 9-2, 9-4, 9-1 to Sahar Jasmina (Malaysia) and Dhaul let slip a two-game lead against Jonitha Sumithri. The disappointment was Supriya, a national ranked player and her 2-9, 9-1, 9-0, 3-9, 9-5 defeat at the hands of Delia Arnold (Malaysia) suggests there is a lot of work to be done in the next four weeks which lead up to the world junior championships.
Rachita Vora was India's only player in the girls' under-19. She managed just three points in her first round match against Australia's Daniella Davis, the joint-fifth seed. Like Supriya, Rachita's form should be a matter of concern to the national squad. Tricia Chuah (Malaysia) was the top seed in the girls' under-19 and she justified her ranking with an easy 9-3, 9-2, 9-3 win over Australia's second seeded Kristy Knight.
The Squash Rackets Association of Selangor organised the event with the matches split over two venues, the NSC Courts and the Astaka Centre. The five-day tournament went off well and next year's event promises to be bigger and better. For the locals, victories for Mohd. Azlan, Tricia Chuah and June Tiong sent them home in good cheer.
But, as they found out in the other seven age-groups, the opposition, particularly from India and Australia was tough.
The results:Boys: Under-11: 1-Spencer Davis (Australia) beat 2-Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) 0-9, 10-9, 9-5, 5-9, 9-6.
Under-13: 2-Mat Reece (Australia) beat 1-Elvinn Keo (Malaysia) 9-6, 9-1, 9-6.
Under-15: Saurav Ghoshal (India) beat Kapil Nesan (Malaysia) 9-4, 9-3, 9-3.
Under-17: 2-Dylan Bennett (Netherlands) beat 1-Jhie Gough (Australia) 9-3, 9-1, 2-9, 9-7.
Under-19: Mohd. Azlan Iskandar (Malaysia) beat Mubashir Gul (Singapore) 9-5, 8-10, 9-2, 9-5.
Girls: Under-11 : Chua Wen Ya (Singapore) beat 1-Zulhijjah Azan (Malaysia) 9-2, 6-9, 9-1, 9-2.
Under-13: 1-Alisha Mashruwala (India) beat Nabilla Ariffin (Malaysia) 6-9, 9-4, 9-0, 9-3.
Under-15: 2-June Tiong (Malaysia) beat 1-Skye Miller (Australia) 9-1, 9-5, 9-3.
Under-17: 1-Joshna Chinappa (India) beat Vaidehi Reddy (India) 10-8, 9-5, 5-9, 1-9, 9-2.
Under-19: 1-Tricia Chuah (Malaysia) beat Kristy Knight (Australia) 9-3, 9-2, 9-3.
Comments
SHARE