Gold medal
honours were shared between Hong Kong, Malaysia,
Pakistan and India in the Asian Junior Squash
Championships in Busan, the second largest city in
South Korea.
Hong Kong's top seed
Leo Au, runner-up in event two years ago, won the Men's U19
title - beating No2 seed Ivan Yuen, of Malaysia.
Underdog Yuen battled to a
2/1 lead, but Au maintained his cool to fight back to win 9-2, 5-9,
8-10, 9-5, 9-1 to collect the title which eluded him two years ago.
Malaysia's defending
champion Low Wee Wern took on last time’s under 15 champion
Dipika Pallikal, the second seed from India, in the Women's
U19 final. The match started off with both players playing an
aggressive brand of squash - a style of play which lasted throughout
the match.
However Pallikal made too
many unforced errors whilst Low played some awesome lengths. Top
seed Low, only 17 years old and the only player to defend her title,
won 9-1, 9-6, 9-0.
The day started with
India’s Anaka Alankamony, the top seed in the Women's U15
event, taking on 3/4 seed Ho Ka Po of Hong Kong. Ho started
off well, leading 6-1 in the first game. The favourite, using her
aggression and power play, levelled and eventually took the first
game.
The second was similar,
with Ho again leading and Alankamony catching up to prevail again.
The third was fairly easy as Alankamony romped home to a 9-6, 9-6,
9-5 victory to keep the title in Indian hands.
Similarly in the Men's U15
event, top seed Nasir Iqbal swept aside the challenge from
India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar to ensure that the title remained
in Pakistan. Iqbal made few errors and was extremely quick around
the court. The lanky Mahesh gave it his best but struggled with the
speed and accuracy of the favourite as Iqbal strode to a 9-4, 9-4,
9-3 victory.
Men's U19
quarter-finals:
[1] Leo Au (HKG) bt Nelson Chan (HKG) 9-4, 9-4, 9-6
[5/8] Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt [3/4] Kamran Khan (MAS) 9-7, 9-3, 9-1
[3/4] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [5/8] Se Hyun Lee (KOR) 9-4, 9-3, 9-2
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [5/8] Ravi Dixit (IND) 9-6, 9-2, 9-0
Semi-finals:
[1] Leo Au (HKG) bt [5/8] Vikram Malhotra (IND) 10-8, 9-0, 9-1
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [3/4] Farhan Zaman (PAK) 9-4, 9-6, 6-9, 9-3
Final:
[1] Leo Au (HKG) bt [2]
Ivan Yuen (MAS) 9-2, 5-9, 8-10, 9-5, 9-1
Third place play-off:
[5/8] Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt [3/4] Farhan Zaman (PAK) 7-9, 9-1,
9-4, 8-10, 9-5
Women's U19
quarter-finals:
[1] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [5/8] Tong Tsz Wing (HKG) 9-2, 9-3, 9-1
[3/4] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [5/8] Anwesha Reddy (IND) 9-2, 2-9,
9-1, 9-3
[5/8] Song Sun-Mi (KOR) bt [3/4] Low Wee Nee (MAS) 9-1, 9-6, 9-4
[2] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [5/8] Liu Tsz Ling (HKG) 10-8, 7-9,
9-4, 6-9, 9-4
Semi-finals:
[1] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [3/4] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) 9-1, 9-2, 9-3
[2] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [5/8] Song Sun-Mi (KOR) 9-1, 9-4, 7-9,
9-5
Final:
[1] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt
[2] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 9-1, 9-6, 9-0
Third place play-off:
[3/4] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [5/8] Song Sun-Mi (KOR) 10-8, 9-5,
9-7
Men's U15 Quarter-finals:
[1] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt Abdulla Mohammed Al-Tamini (QAT) 9-3, 9-1,
5-9, 9-3
[3/4] Yip Tsz Fung (HKG) bt [5/8] Abishek Pradhan (IND) 8-10, 9-1,
9-4, 9-6
[3/4] Myhammad Addeen Bahtiar (MAS) bt [5/8] Go Young-Jo (KOR) 4-9,
9-1, 8-10, 9-5, 9-1
[2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [5/8] Darren Subramaniam (MAS) 8-10,
9-4, 9-6, 9-0
Semi-finals:
[1] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [3/4] Yip Tsz Fung (HKG) 9-2, 9-1, 9-1
[2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [3/4] Myhammad Addeen Bahtiar (MAS)
9-5, 9-6, 9-2
Final:
[1] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt
[2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 9-4, 9-4, 9-3
Third place play-off:
[3/4] Yip Tsz Fung (HKG) bt [3/4] Myhammad Addeen Bahtiar (MAS) 9-4,
9-4, 6-9, 9-2
Women's U15
Quarter-finals:
[1] Anaka Alankamony (IND) bt [5/8] Sue Ann Yong (MAS) 9-2, 9-7, 9-1
[3/4] Sachika Balvani (IND) bt Nadindi Udangawa (SRI) 9-1, 9-3, 9-2
[3/4] Ho Ka Po (HKG) bt [5/8] Saumya Karki (IND) 8-10, 9-2, 9-7,
10-8
[5/8] Lee Ka Yi (HKG) bt [2] Aprajitha Balamurukan (IND) 8-10, 9-2,
9-5, 9-1
Semi-finals:
[1] Anaka Alankamony (IND) bt [3/4] Sachika Balvani (IND) 9-6, 9-6,
9-0
[3/4] Ho Ka Po (HKG) bt [5/8] Lee Ka Yi (HKG) 1-9, 9-1, 9-5, 9-1
Final:
[1] Anaka Alankamony (IND)
bt [3/4] Ho Ka Po (HKG) 9-6, 9-6, 9-5
Third place play-off:
[5/8] Lee Ka Yi (HKG) bt [3/4] Sachika Balvani (IND) 9-7, 9-4, 9-4
