Sarawak junior players with Connie Yeo (centre) at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil.
KUCHING: Sarawak put up a good performance in the CIMB National Junior and Senior Interstate Squash Championship by finishing second in the Men’s Open, Girl Under-15 and Boys Under-15 competitions.
It was their best achievement in the championship since 2011.
In the fourth edition of the national squash meet held at the National Squash Centre, National Sports Complex, Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday, the men’s team comprising Sanjay Singh Chal, Valentino Bong and Jess Tay were outclassed by Armed Forces (ATM) 2-0 in the final.
Valentino lost 1-3 (5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 5-11) to Nafiizman Adnan in the first singles while Sanjay was not in his element to bow out 0-3 (2-11, 12-14, 5-11) to Elvinn Keo in the second singles.
Sarawak’s Girls U15 team, who were the top seeds in the competition, failed to live up to expectations and lost 1-2 to Sabah in the final.
They were banking on Ma Si Yi to deliver the first point in the first singles but she was upstaged 1-3 (11-13, 12-10, 12-14, 7-11) by Lai Wen Li.
Charlize Goh was unable to offer much resistance to Jessica Jeng Jia Hui and lost in three sets of 7-11, 4-11, 4-11 in the second singles.
However, Josephine Yii managed to collect a consolation point for Sarawak when she beat Joanne Joseph 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-4).
In the pool matches, Sarawak had won all their matches with a 3-0 scoreline.
In the Boys U15 contest, the third seeds Sarawak also lost 1-2 to the top seeds Melaka in the final. They had upset Selangor 2-1 in the semi-finals.
Timothy Ling won a point for Sarawak when he beat Wang Peng Soon 3-1 (11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6) but Siow Yee Xian and Adam Agan Aziz were unable to keep the winning momentum going, losing 1-3 (9-11, 9-11, 16-14, 3-11) to Martin Kueh and 0-3 (8-11, 4-11, 9-11) to Charles Lau respectively in the second and third singles matches.
Meanwhile, the Boys U19 team of Denhalm Tan, Samuel Lau, Putera Farrock and Harraz Iqbal, who were only aged 14 and 15 years old, did well to finish sixth.
Boys U19, Boys U15 and Girls U15 team manager Connie Yeo was very happy with the overall performance of the state team.
“They have done very well in the tournament, displayed great team and fighting spirit, put up a good fight in all categories,” she said yesterday.
“I am very pleased with the Boys U19 team because they are only 14 or 15 years old and they competed with older players. This is a very good exposure for them,” she added.
The manager for the Boys U19 squad was Peter Chee while the coaches were Shahid Aziz and Naqash.