FINALS :
Finals day at the REDtone KL junior Open saw a lot of competitive final matches especially at the glass court as most of the matches went the distance.
Harleein Tan won the Girls under 15s but after going two love up she was pulled back by Cheung Tsz Ching. The fifth was tight but Harleein had a couple of points gap and managed to secure the fifth 11.8.
The boys under 15s was a brutal match that lasted 83mins, the games all very evenly matched. Aqil Mirza won the opening game 14-12 but Altamis Sufian fought back to take the second 14-12. Aqil managed to sneak the third 11.8 but Altamis fought back for the fourth 11.9. The fifth was neck and neck all the way, Altamis had a match ball at 10.9 but couldn’t convert. Aqil fought back to win the next few rallies and seal the win 12.10 in the fifth.
In the Girls under 17s Ena Kwong looked very comfortable when she opened up a two game to love lead on Doyce Lee but the number one seed fought back to win the next three games all in very tight games. She managed to win the third 11.9, then the fourth 12.10 before sealing the fifth 11.8.
Na Jooyoung sealed the under 17s title defeating team mate Oh Seojin in three entertaining games. Both using all of the court and some wonderful attacking skills to treat the crowd.
In the Girls under 19s event Toby Tse Yee Lam sealed the girls under 19s title having to come from one game down to beat Whitney Isabelle Wilson. Having lost the opening game on a tie break Toby fought back to win the next three much to her delight.
Harith Danial won the boys under 19s title defeating teammate Andrik Lim in four games. Harith was the more proactive throughout the match and made the most of his chances.
Jinoreeka Ning Manivannan won the girls under 13s event beating Emelda Camalia in straight games.
Another brutal battle in the boys under 13s as Simarver Singh Bamotra managed to sneak an 11.9 win in the fifth against Jayden Louis.
Pakistans Muhammed Mamoon Khan beat Indias Ayaan Dhanuka in three games in the under 11s final with Hong Kongs Chiu Hau Ching beating Nurul Nageena Abd Basir winning the Girls under 11s.
In the boys under 9s Syed Muhammad Arash Adamsa Syed Mohd Rashidi was victorious beating Thoriq Yusuf Mohammad Nor Bakri in three games. In the Girls under 9s Rhea Renise Balasingam beat Chew Nuie in four close games.
That’s a wrap for 2022 see everyone in 2023.
Day FIVE : Semi-Finals
Semi-finals day at the REDtone KL Junior Open saw some fantastic matches at the National Squash Centre Bukit Jalil.
First player through to the finals was Harleein Tan as she saw off Najwa Zara in three games. Harleein will play second seed Cheung Tsz Ching in the final after she defeated Haneesha Veerakumar in three games.
In the boys under 15s final team mates Aqil Mirza and Altamis Sufian will go head to head in the final. Aqil and Altamis both needed four games to see off Ivan Cheng and Jayden Oon.
In the Girls under 17s top seed Doyce Lee defeated Sashmini Chandaran in three games but second seed Anrie Goh was defeated by Ena Kwong from Hong Kong in four very closely contested games on the glass court.
Whitney Isabelle Wilson caused an upset in the Girls under 19s event when she defeated Wai Sze Wing in five games. Wai took the first game 11-9 but Isabelle fought back to take the next two. Wai fought back to win the fourth 11-6 but it was Isabelle who finished the strongest wining the fifth 11-3. Her opponent in the final tomorrow will be second seed Toby Tse Yee Lam from Hong Kong after she beat Goh Zhi Xuan in four games.
Na Jooyoung and Oh Seojin will contest the boys under 17s final. Na came through against Giant killer Ryu Jeongjuk in three games. Oh needed all five games against Nickhileswar Mogana in what was a great match and drew in a big crowd with the quality of squash on display.
In the boys under 13s top seed Toma Ikeda was beaten by Jayden Louis in three games, he will face off against Simarver Singh Bamotra after he ended the run of Jayden Tan.
In the girls under 13s event Emelda Camalia will face off with Jinoreeka Ning Manivannan after both won in contrasting styles. Emelda needed all five games to beat Tang Lok Yin from Hong Kong and Jinoreeka only dropped a few points against Amber Kristy Muyou.
Finals day tomorrow as all the matches will take place in the national squash centre in Bukit Jalil.
Day FOUR Roundup
Day four of the REDtone KL junior open saw the top two boys categories dominated by mainly by one country. In the boys under 19s Malaysia will be guaranteed a winner after Andrik slim, Hi Jia Rong, Low Wasern and Harith Danial all won through in straight games.
In the boys under 17s it was Korea who dominated this age group top seed Na Jooyoung survived by the skin of his teeth to be Wong Lee Hong 13.11 in the fifth. Ryu Jeonguk continued his run this week and Oh Seojin knocked out second seed Kreethi Pillay in four games. One sole Malaysian player left is Nickileswar’s Mogana who needed five games to beat Veroon Heng.
In the girls under 19s it will be between Malaysia and Hong Kong. Whitney Isabelle Wilson and Goh Zhi Xuan will take on Wai Sze Wing and Toby Tse Yee Lam for a place in Sundays finals.
Harleein Tan will take on Najwa Zara in the girls under 15s semi-final after both scored relatively easy victories today. In the lower half of the draw Haneesha Veerakumar will play Hong Kongs Cheung Tsz Ching.
In the boys under 15s top seed Aqil Mirza will play Ivan Chang and Altamis Suffian will play Jayden Oon.
Day THREE : down to the Quarter-Finals
Day three of the REDtone KL junior open saw another day of Brilliant squash in the National Squash centre Bukit Jalil as well the second venue hosting the younger age groups, Jalan Duta.
n the boys under 19s event there was only one upset and it came by the narrowest of margins as Ito Kanta of Japan beat Justin Yap 14-12 in the fifth. The reward for Kanta is a match against top seed Andrik Lim in tomorrow’s quarter finals.
In the girls under 19s again only one upset as Kim Dani beat team mate Lee Sojin in three games to set up a match with Hong Kongs top seed Wai Sze Wing.
Ryu Jeonguk continued his fine form this week beating team mate Lee Jonghyeok in four good quality games on the glass court. Veroon Heng managed to spring a surprise on the higher seeded Hashvind Kugan winning in three games.
In the boys under 15s Rashwind Nantha Kumar came from two games down to defeat Indias Shiven Agarwal. Having lost the opening two games, Kumar came back to win the next three games all 11-8. Another lowly seeded player Nittish Manimaran gate crashed the quarter finals beating Muhammad Haiqal Hazim Syarudinin three games.
Over the last couple of days a lot of upsets in the girls under 15s event, Keerty Haridharan and Nur Aiysah Elzahra Ahmed Zaki have both knocked out the ¾ seeds and made the quarter finals.
Day TWO roundup
Day two of the REDtone KL Junior Open saw all the age groups in Action,
In the Boys under 19s event Andrik Lim saw off Samuel Quek from Singapore in 3 games, however at the bottom of the draw second seed Tse Jat from Hong Kong needed all five games to see off team mate Kelvin Lo.
Having been 2-1 down in games Tse Jat fought back to win games four and five.
Two birthday boys in action today as Na Jooyoung top seed in the boys under 17s Saw off Sinaporean Lai Meng Wai in three games. Raziq Putra who had a tough five sets yesterday today only needed three games to see off Nicolix Eng. Happy birthday to Jooyoung and Raziq.
Ryu Jeonguk continued his fine form in the event beating Abdul Fahmi Abd Basir in four games. His reward is a last 16 match with team mate Lee Jonghyeok.
In the girls under 19s Eugenia David needed five games to beat Singapores Aaliya Abo Al Thinin with the fifth game being as tight as 11-9. Eugenias reward is a match with ¾ seed Whitney Isabelle Wilson.
In the Boys under 13s Lim Ho Sum managed to upset his team mate and ¾ seed Yuen Tsz Long in three games.
In the girls under 13s 3/4 seed Himari Midorikawa was pushed all the way to a 11-9 in the fifth game by Singapore’s Jayna Lim.
Tomorrow promises another day of exciting squash.
Day one of the REDtone KL Junior Open got underway today with 11 of the 12 age groups commencing.
Some of the larger age groups those that had 128 draws had two matches and yet in the age groups played today there were only a handful of seeds that were beaten. Matches began sharp at 8.30am and continued throughout the whole day into the Evening.
Raziq Putra in the boys under 15s survived a stern test against Nabil Iman Shahrizan Azrol from Perlis. Perlis for me is a state that is on the up having hired two young coaches who I feel have done really well over the last couple of years. Nabil beat Raziq a couple of weeks ago 3-2 but today Raziq managed to reverse the score line sealing the fifth game 11-8.
In the boys under 17s there was a big shock when Tam Tsz Shing the 3/4 seed was knocked out in his opening match by Korean Ryu Jeonguk in four games. The Korean won 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10 for a big victory.
We look forward to another day of squash tomorrow.
Preview from Andrew Cross
The Redtone KL Junior Open is set to start again next week with 824 players representing 14 countries due to participate in 12 age groups. Post the pandemic it has done nothing to affect the number of players entering this event.
With an exciting brand of squash coming over the next few days some big names have entered the draws. In the Boys under 17s event we will see JooYoung Na who won the Asian Juniors this year in Pattaya. He will come up against Kreethi Pillay, Nickileswar Mogana the reigning under 15 Asian Junior champion and Tam Tsz Shing from Hong Kong.
Andrik Lim will look to finish his junior career on a high as he is the top seed for the Boys under 19s event. He will face a tough challenge Tse Jat from Hong Kong as well as youngsters Low Wa-sern and Harith Danial.
Wai Sze Wing is the top seed in the Girls under 19s event and could potentially face off against her team mate Toby Yee Tse Lam in the final. Whitney Isabelle Wilson, Jun Ain and Goh Zi Xuan will try to have something to say about it.
Harleein Tan will try to add another trophy to her collection but could come up against Ching Tsz Cheung in the final. Chloe Lo from Hong Kong who was highly impressive in Penang will look to win the title here in KL.. Post the pandemic it has done nothing to affect the number of players entering this event.
With an exciting brand of squash coming over the next few days some big names have entered the draws. In the Boys under 17s event we will see JooYoung Na who won the Asian Juniors this year in Pattaya. He will come up against Kreethi Pillay, Nickileswar Mogana the reigning under 15 Asian Junior champion and Tam Tsz Shing from Hong Kong.
Andrik Lim will look to finish his junior career on a high as he is the top seed for the Boys under 19s event. He will face a tough challenge Tse Jat from Hong Kong as well as youngsters Low Wa-sern and Harith Danial.
Wai Sze Wing is the top seed in the Girls under 19s event and could potentially face off against her team mate Toby Yee Tse Lam in the final. Whitney Isabelle Wilson, Jun Ain and Goh Zi Xuan will try to have something to say about it.
Harleein Tan will try to add another trophy to her collection but could come up against Ching Tsz Cheung in the final. Chloe Lo from Hong Kong who was highly impressive in Penang will look to win the title here in KL.
