KUCHING: Sukma player Afeeq Aberdeen Ismail won the Elite title of the SuperSquashers Social when he beat fellow Sukma player Jess Tay Sin Kiong 3-1 at the squash courts of The Sarawak Club last Sunday.
Showing that fasting was no big hindrance to participating in a sports activity, Afeeq took the first set 11-9 but lost the second set 10-12 before wrapping up the win 11-4, 11-9.
He collected a trophy, a meal voucher worth RM200 from Pullman Hotels and Resorts, Vico product and a squash racquet bag.
Former state player Romero Yap finished third after he edged another former Sukma player Andre Kho 3-2 (9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8).
The men’s champion was Ian Caldwell who also had a narrow win over Emmanuel David 3-2 (11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-7) in the final.
For his efforts, Caldwell was rewarded with a meal voucher worth RM200 from Pullman Hotels and Resorts, a trophy, Vico product and squash bag.
Third was Joe Ting who beat Richard Lai 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-8) in the placing play-off.
Harraz Iqbal took the Junior Elite title after he defeated Brodie Tsen 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8). Third place went to Abraham Tan who edged Clifford Tay 3-2 (12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7).
He collected a meal voucher worth RM200 from Pullman Hotels and Resorts, a trophy, Vico product and squash bag.
The Boys Under-18 crown went to Ian Chiew who beat Teo Zhi Kai 3-1 (11-1, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9).
Third was Brandon Foo after he beat Ethan Foo 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-7) in the play-off.
May Ting emerged the Girls U18 champion after she laboured hard to beat Evelyn Lo 3-1 (11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10) in the final.
Nicole Chai came in third by beating Nur Syarfika 3-1 (11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5).
Meanwhile, in the Children U12A competition for beginners, Eugenia Sulan was crowned the champion after she beat Charoon 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-3) in the final.
In third to sixth spots were Ivan Chiew, Mark Lawrence, Desmond Ong and Ray Ezekiel.
The Children U12B category for those who have never won in a competition saw Albert Chin blanking Vyandrian Ngi 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-6) to win the title.
Bradley Balan Jim finished in third place after he beat Lejo Tajang 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-4) in the play-off match.
Fourth and fifth were Alexis Sim and Wesley Darren Chong respectively.
SuperSquashers founder and former national player Andre Kho was pleased to note with the outcome of the event.
“The response has been very good with 90 participants for this third edition. There were only 40 participants in the first SuperSquashers Social in September last year and the number grew to 70 in the second edition in March this year,” he said.
The youngest player was six-year-old Solomon Ng while the oldest participant was Dato Richard Curtis, the chief executive officer of Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS).
“The purpose of organising this event is to give the players especially the young ones, who are aged 12 and under, to have a chance of competing and winning in a competition,” said Andre.
The event was also aimed at promoting squash and a healthy lifestyle among the players young and old and at the same time to get all players to interact and socialise during the competition where there was no pressure for the participants to win.
Sponsors of the event included CMS, Pullma Hotels and Resorts, Borneo Medical Centre, Vico, Water Genesis Sdn Bhd, FAME International College, MAVU Enterprise and The Sarawak Club.
Meanwhile, Andre urged the State government to build more squash facilities in Kuching and other major towns to cater to the growing number of young squash players.
“In Kuching, the squash courts are few and some only accessible to club members and the renting of courts is not cheap too,” he pointed out.
There are four courts each at The Sarawak Club and Sarawak Golf Club, two at Crown Towers, one at Riverside Majestic and two run-down courts at MBKS Recreational Centre in Pending.