Zoe fights back to set up All Malaysian U-17 final

Zoe Foo (right) in a filepic. She fought back from two sets down to beat Hong Kong's Chan Ho Ching in the semi-finals of the girls' Under-17 category.

PETALING JAYA: Zoe Foo will be hoping to be third time lucky after producing a superb comeback to storm into the girls’ Under-17 final of the Asian Junior Squash Championships in Kish Island, Iran.

A day after beating top seed and compatriot S. Sivasangari 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 in the quarter-finals, the sixth seeded Zoe claimed another big scalp by beating fourth seed Chan Ho Ching of Hong Kong.

The Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) student, who lost in the Under-15 finals in 2012 and 2013, fought back from two sets down to win 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7.

Zoe will take on compatriot and second seed Andrea Lee in today’s final.

The Kuala Lumpur-born Andrea was also in good form, beating second seed Harshit Kaur Jawanda of India 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 5-11, 11-2 in the other semi-final.

“I’m really happy to make the final again because I was 2-0 down. But I managed to recover to win the match,” said Zoe.

In the girls’ Under-19 semi-finals, Vanessa Raj made light work of Hong Kong’s Choi Uen Shan, winning 11-6, 11-6, 11-7. She will meet top seed Ho Tze Lok, also of Hong Kong, in the final.

Malaysia will also have representatives in the Under-13 and Under-15 finals.

British Junior Under-13 champion Aifa Azman proved too strong for compatriot Amirah Rusydina Rosli in the Under-13 category with an 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 win while top seed Nur Aliah Izzati swept past Hong Kong’s Tang Yan Yi 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 in the Under-15 event.

In the boys’ Under-17 category, top seed Ng Eain Yow remained on track to retain his title after beating Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Yiu 11-8, 11-4, 12-10. He will meet second seed Mohammad Alsarraj of Jordan for the title.

In the Under-15 category, Selangor-born Eugene Heng outlasted second seed Dev Vazarani of India 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5.

Eugene will play Jordanian Ibrahim Khaleel Abulaban in the final. Ibrahim shocked Malaysian top seed Jesse Foo 11-6, 13-11, 11-5 in the other semi-final.

There were also disappointments for Mohd Syafiq Kamal (Under-19) and Shawn Tai (Under-13) as they both crashed out of the last four.