KUALA LUMPUR: C. Ameeshenraj and Darren Pragasam kept Malaysia’s squash hopes alive at Hollolan Kuntokeidas in Finland by securing spots in the quarter-finals.
The PSA Challenger 12K tournament saw Ameeshenraj put up a determined effort to clear the second round in the early hours of Thursday (Feb 27) morning against Wales’ Owain Taylor.
After a hard-fought 55-minute battle, Ameeshenraj secured his place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory (10-12, 11-1, 11-8, 11-6).
Darren also delivered an impressive performance, pulling off an upset by eliminating third seed Matthew Lai of Hong Kong 3-2 (11-7, 7-11, 14-16, 11-9, 11-9) in a gruelling 62-minute contest.
However, it was the end of the road for fellow Malaysian Mohammad Syafiq Kamal, who fell to Egypt’s fifth seed Mohammad Nasser 3-1 (11-5, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8).
In the quarter-finals, Ameeshenraj will face France’s second seed, Toufik Mekhalfi.
Meanwhile, Darren is set to take on another French opponent, sixth seed Edwin Clain.
