First KL junior squash c’ships set to draw more than 500 players

Great response: The SRAFTKL Junior Squash Championship has already attracted more than 500 players from 14 countries for the six age categories being contested. — SRAFTKL

PETALING JAYA: The inaugural Squash Racquets Association of Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur (SRAFTKL) Junior Squash Championship is set to see over 500 players compete for the title.

The Asian Junior Super Series Silver event will be taking place from April 15-20 at the Jalan Duta Squash Courts and the Astaka Sports Complex in Petaling Jaya.

The tournament’s organising chairman and SRAFTKL deputy president Syed Kebir said the tournament’s overwhelming participation shows promise, and could see it become a Gold-level tournament next year.

“Since this is the inaugural edition of the tournament, we start with the Silver-level, but because of the response we have gotten, we already qualify to upgrade the tournament to Gold next year,” he said.

As a brand-new tournament in the Asian Junior circuit calendar, the tournament has already attracted 583 young players from 14 countries, featuring six age categories (Under-9, U-11, U-13, U-15, U-17 and U-19) for both boys and girls.

Syed Kebir added that there will be a number of Asian seeded players in the competition, and sees the local players being able to give a challenge.

“There are quite a number of seeded players competing, especially from Hong Kong and Singapore.

“But the most number of seeded players are from Malaysia because we have been producing a lot of talented players,” he said.

SRAFTKL also announced their corporate partnership with Touch ‘N Go for the tournament, which is a game-changer for junior squash in Kuala Lumpur and beyond.

“The partnership does not only entail this event, but also in terms of financial support for SRAFTKL.

“It’s for our coaches, so we can have ample and good coaches to train our rising players, and also partnerships with the company for other events,” he said.