Malaysia land ninth Asian Junior squash team title in nail-biting finale

We are the champions: The victorious Malaysian girls’ squad at the Asian Junior Team Championships in Pattaya (from left) Ooi Kah Yan, Jessica Keng, Aifa Azman and Chan Yiwen.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian girls’ squash team bagged their ninth Asian Junior Team Championship in style by taking down Hong Kong 2-0 in a nail-biting final in Pattaya, Thailand.

It went down the wire from the first match when Ooi Kah Yan was involved in a neck and neck battle with Lee Sum Yuet before the former prevailed in a hard-fought 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 4-11, 13-11 win.

The second match was equally suspenseful as Aifa Azman fought tooth and nail to beat Chan Sin Yuk 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8.

With the astounding 2-0 win yesterday, the girls have lifted the title without losing a single individual match in the tournament.

They bulldozed past Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Macau without dropping a match and benefitted from a walkover against India.

It was a different story with the boys when they were stunned 2-1 by India in the semi-final.

The defeat also means the boys failed to meet the target of reaching the final.

Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia director Mejar (Rtd) S. Maniam said both teams have their work cut out if they want to challenge for honours at the World Junior Individual and Team Championships in Bukit Jalil in July.

“The girls won the gold as expected but the boys did play well and went down fighting to India. They gave it everything but not enough against a charged-up India,” said Maniam.

“Our players from both teams have to double their work in the next few months if they hope to do well at the world juniors in Kuala Lumpur this year.”