PETALING JAYA: It was a day of mixed fortunes for Malaysia as the competition got tougher at the World Junior Championships in Nancy, France yesterday.
Boys’ joint fifth seed Joachim Chuah, C. Ameeshanraj and girls’ joint ninth seed Yee Xin Ying and K. Sehveetrraa survived the third round.
Joachim, Malaysia’s best bet in the boys’ individual, defeated Joe Smyth of New Zealand 11-7, 11-2, 11-2 to reach the last 16.
The Malaysian, who was the runner-up at the Asian Junior Championship in May, will play Sam Osborne-Wylde, the joint ninth seed from England, today.
Ameeshanraj did well to move to the last 16 when he defeated Pakistan’s Ashab Irfan 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 but faces an uphill task against top seed Hamza Khan from Pakistan next.
“Joachim and Ameeshen played really well today (yesterday) and so were the girls. Obviously, each day will get tougher and tougher but it’s a good experience for them. They should try and keep going as far as they can,” said national assistant coach Andrew Cross.
Xin Ying secured a 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 win over Moa Bonnemark of Sweden to set up a tough last 16 clash against joint fifth seed Sarah Ngiem of England while Sehveetrraa outplayed India’s Yuvna Gupta 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 in the third round.
Three other Malaysians – Andrik Lim, Harith Danial Jefri and Low Wah Sern – crashed out in the second round on Thursday.
