Negri boy Ameeshenraj over the moon after win at home

PETALING JAYA: National squash player C. Ameeshenraj made heads turn when he crowned his fairytale run at the PSNS President’s Trophy with the title.

The world No. 296 stunned eighth seeded world No. 203 Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek of Egypt 11-4, 11-5, 12-10 in a 53-minute final at the Royal Seri Menanti Golf and Country Club, in Negri Sembilan yesterday.

What made it even sweeter was that Ameeshenraj played in front of his parents and won the title on his home soil.

Ameeshenraj started his giant-killing run by defeating seventh seed Amir Amirul Azhar 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 in the first round before toppling Egypt’s second seed Mohamed Nasser 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 in the quarter-finals to book his spot in the semi-finals.

He claimed his third scalp of the tournament when he edged world No. 149 Ong Sai Hung 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 in the semi-finals to set up his showdown with Abdelrahman.

Ameeshenraj was relieved that he had handled his nerves well enough to win all matches en route to the final.

“I’m very happy to finally win this tournament as this is my first 6k level tournament and I got through all of my matches without dropping a set,” said Ameeshenraj, who is currently based in Bristol.

“I was grateful to play in front of my parents and family as it meant a lot to me because I’ve always been away in the UK.

“I was nervous going into every match but it also made me stay more alert facing my tougher opponents.

“I slipped up in the third set at first, but glad I came back strongly to win it at the end.”

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Nour Megahed defeated her teammate Habiba Hani 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 in the women’s final match which lasted 29 minutes.