Aqil gets it right to land first Under-17 national junior title

PETALING JAYA: Squash player Aqil Mirza Naim Khairil Fariz (pic) got it right this time to win the boys’ Under-17 titles in the National Junior Championship after falling short at the previous edition.

Aqil recovered from a first-set loss to beat Ivan Chang 9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3 in the final at the Jalan Duta Courts yesterday.

Aqil is not all that happy despite the win as he wants to be quicker on his feet moving forward.

“I’m happy to win because it’s my first national junior title, but I need to change my game style. I’m not satisfied,” said Aqil.

“It’s too slow at the moment, and I need to be faster to make sure my opponents get tired faster.

Aqil lost to Altamis Aqhar Sallam Sufian last year.

Aqil, who won the REDtone KL Junior Open Under-17 title last December, will have a short break before returning to compete at the PSA Satellite #1 and Inter­national Junior Open Cham­pion­ship, part of the Asian Junior Super Series, in April.

“I will be back competing after the Hari Raya holidays,” he said.

The rising player was also part of the squad that won a silver in the Asian Team Championships in Hong Kong last week.