Miri’s 12-year-old squash prodigy rises to stardom

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Harith (top left) with teammates, coaches and officials. Also seen is SRAM development officer Al Ardy Ally (right).

KUCHING: Squash rising star Harith Danial Jefri has created more history for Sarawak by becoming the first Sarawakian to win the Boys U12 Elite title for two consecutive years at the 20th Ong Beng Hee and Nicol David Trophy at Hang Jebat Squash Complex in Melaka from Nov 21 to 22.

Harith bagged the title last year to bring the trophy to Sarawak for the first time in 19 years.

The 12-year-old from Miri is also the second player to win the title twice after current national player Ng Eain Yow from Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur won it in 2009 and 2010.

He kicked off his campaign with a 3-0 win over Afreza Harris before disposing of Aiden Goh
Chu Chen, Addin Iqwain Hilman and teammate Wong Lee Hong along the way, all by the same margin.

The final saw Harith defeating surprise finalist the joint 9/16th seed Tho Wei Yan of Penang 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-5).

Meanwhile, in the Boys team event competed from Nov 22 to 25, Harith partnered Lee Hong, Lohan Arulkanden and Adrian Gerald Harith (reserve) to beat Tho Wei Yan, Nickhileswar Moganasundharam and Kuhen Manimaran of Penang 2-0 in the final.

Harith delivered the first point for his team when he beat Tho 11-1, 11-3, 11-4 while Lee Hong claimed the winning point for Sarawak after he defeated Nickhileswar 11-8, 5-11, 11-9 and 11-9.

It was titles number 16 and 17 for Harith this year.

He will next be gunning for more glory in the REDtone 12th KL Junior Open Squash Championship, an Asian Junior Super Series Platinum Event sanctioned by the Asian Squash Federation, at the national Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur from Dec 4 to 9.

The primary six pupil of SK Jalan Bintang also showed that he also has the brains and brawn when he excelled in his studies and received numerous awards from his school.

They include Best Primary 6 Maths student, Primary 6 Progressive 3rd Place, Assistant Head Prefect 2018, special award for representing Malaysia in international competitions, Best Model Co-Curriculum 2018 and Model Excellent Student 2018.