KUALA LUMPUR: National woman junior squash player Sehveetrra Kumar (pix) created a sensation to join Aira Azman in the fourth round of the 2023 World Junior Squash Championships in Melbourne, Australia today.
Joachim Chuah also made it to the fourth round of the men’s event in the six-day championships, which began yesterday.
While Aira and Joachim lived up to expectations to advance, it was the 18-year-old Sehveetrra who stole the show by downing New Zealand’s Sophie Hodges 11-2, 12-10, 12-10 to set up a fourth-round date against Amina Orfi after the Egyptian defeated Canada’s Ocean Ma 11-4, 11-2, 11-1.
Aira had no problem disposing of American Caroline Eielson 11-8, 11-1, 11-7 in the third round and will face Leung Ka Huen tomorrow after the Hong Kong player tamed England’s Amelie Haworth 7-11, 11-2, 11-6, 12-10.
In men’s action, Joachim overcame Oscar Curtis 11-4, 11- 2, 13-11 and will be up against Kareem El Torkey next after the Egyptian brushed aside Canada’s Jacob Lin 11-4, 11-2, 11-4.
There was no such luck for Malaysia’s other men’s junior player, Harith Daniel Jefri as he was outplayed 4-11, 5-11, 7-11 by Dutch second seed Rowan Damming.
Meanwhile, national coach Andrew Cross has warned his players to be cautious and not to underestimate their fourth-round opponents.
“Some good performances from Aira and Joachim and I thought Harith Daniel did pretty well, too… but we are not quite done yet. We will see tomorrow. They have got some tough challengers, especially Joachim.
“He’s up against a decent player tomorrow, so he must make sure he is ready. Aira’s got a girl from Hong Kong, so that won’t be easy (either),” he said in an audio clip shared by the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) today. –Bernama
