Nik Razeer (fourth left) and (from third right) Isaac, Ong, Lau and others join the winners after the prize presentation at the Sarawak Squash Centre yesterday. — Photo by Teo Chi Wei
KUCHING: Sanjay Jeeva and Jessica Keng Jia Hui were crowned the Boys and Girls Under 19 singles champions at the 4th CMS Borneo Junior Open Squash Championship that ended at the Sarawak Squash Centre in Petra Jaya yesterday.
Sanjay, who represented Belgium, outstaged the tournament top seed from Hong Kong, Chun Yat Long 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9) in the final.
Finishing in third place was Zeb Zeeshan of Pakistan who edged Hong Kong’s Ho Ka Kei 3-2 in the play-off while in fourth to eighth positions were Marvindvarmma Dinesh and Sivershearn Jaynesh both from Selangor, Pheshant Sri Nagesh of Negeri Sembilan and Harraz Iqbal from Sarawak.
The Boys U17 title went to Nathan Kueh who beat Clifford Tay 3-0 in an all-Sarawak final while Zaman Noor of Pakistan was the winner of the Boys U15 final after beating compatriot Khan M Hamza 3-2.
National Boys U13 number one Harith Danial Jefri added another feather to his cap when he beat Selangor’s Tay Jun Qian 3-1 in the Boys U13 final while Jayden Oon of Kuala Lumpur was a 3-0 winner over Clement Chieng of Sarawak in the Boys U11 final.
Meanwhile, Jessica Keng who hails from Sabah overcame the stiff opposition from Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk 3-1 (11-9, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9) to take the Girls U19 crown.
The second runner-up was Ma Si Yi of Sarawak who beat teammate Chloe Chieng 3-1 in the play-off and those in fourth to eighth placings were Brodie Tsen Lauren (Sarawak), Amira Singh (India), Charlize Goh (Sarawak) and Thamaiyanthi Subramaniam (Selangor).
The Girls U15 final saw second seed Nathalie Sim beating top seed Vharsha Mithraa Dinesh of Selangor 3-1 while the champions of the Girls Under 13 and Under 11 were Valerie Kaitlyn Huang of Hong Kong and Anahat Singh of India respectively.
Prizes were given away by Cahya Mata Sarawak chief executive officer Dato Isaac Lugun, Sarawak Sports Corporation chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee who represented Assistant Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Snowdan Lawan, Squash Racquet Association of Malaysia president (SRAM) Nik Razeer Daud and Squash Racquet of Sarawak (SRAS) president Robert Lau Hui Yew.
Two hundred and fifty-four players from 12 countries namely Australia, Belgium, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and host Malaysia participated in the five-day championship organised by SRAS and sanctioned by the Asian Squash Federation and SRAM.