Harith (squatting at left) pose with his teammates.
KUCHING: Squash prodigy Harith Danial Jefri ended the year on a high note by winning the Boys U13 title at the 12th RedTone KL Open Junior Championship at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.
The 12-year old from Miri beat second seed Veroon Heng 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-6) in the final for his 18th title in 2018.
Harith, the tournament’s top seed, was simply too good for his opponents in the preliminary rounds with 3-0 wins over Vijaya Sanger Pevinder Vijaya of Negeri Sembilan (11-0, 11-0, 11-1), Tho Wei Yan of Penang, Buraga Christopher from the Philippines and Angkaus Tristan Andreas Muyou of Sabah.
He then eliminated South Korea’s Oh Seojin 3-1 (13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3) in the semi-finals.
Harith was among the 11 other Sarawak players who made it to the top eight, with Wong Lee Hong finishing fifth in the Boys U13, Siti Syaurah A Suffian seventh in Girls U9, Agatha Chieng sixth in Girls U11, Lee Xin Yii seventh in Girls U11, Claudia Yong fourth in Girls U15, Eugenia David eighth in Girls U15, Chloe Chieng seventh in Girls U17, Nathalie Sim eighth in Girls U17, Altamis Sallam A Suffian seventh in Boys U11, Chris Lau eighth in Boys U15 and Nathan Kueh was seventh in the Boys U19.
After finishing in the 11th position in the British Junior Open Squash Championship earlier this year, Harith looks set for a better performance in the same tournament from Jan 2 to 6 next year. This time around, the national Boys U13 number one has been offered by Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) to play in UK as a Tier 1 qualifier after he won the Boys U13 title at the Malaysian Junior Open in Penang.
Harith is the only player from Sarawak to be provided full funding for the event as he joins six other players Siow Yee Xian (Boys U19), Aifa Azman (Girls U19), Aira Azman (Girls U15), Nickhileswar (Boys U11) and Chan Yiwen (Girls U19).
Another Sarawakian Hi Jia Rong, who is now studying at Bukit Jalil Sports School in Kuala Lumpur, will also be competing in the prestigious tournament but at his own expenses.