Malaysia not expecting girls' Medals

by Aftar Singh, Malaysian Star

Malaysia cannot expect medal winners in the women’s competition of the world junior squash championships, which begin on Wednesday in Chennai.

National elite coach Ajaz Azmat has conceded that none of the seven players in the team — Low Wee Nee, Tan Yan Xin, Nessrine Ariffin, Rachael Goh, Vanessa Raj, Yong Sue Ann and Celine Yeap — will make it to the semi-finals.

"The juniors of the other countries are strong and the best we can hope for is seeing Wee Nee (sixth seed) and Nessrine (ninth-16th) in the quarter-finals," said the Pakistani coach.

The top two seeds are India’s Dipika Pallikal and Egypt’s Heba El Torky.

Ajaz added that the four players who would carry Malaysia’s challenge in the team competition, involving 16 countries, were Wee Nee, Nessrine, Yan Xin and Rachel.

"The seedings for the team event will be based on the players’ performance in the individual competition. I hope the players will give their best in the individual event to earn a good seeding," said Ajaz.

For the first time in the World Juniors, the boys’ and girls’ individual events will be held simultaneously. But there will be no boys’ team competition.

Ajaz said that Asian junior champion Ivan Yuen is Malaysia’s best bet for a medal.

Ivan is the second seed behind defending champion Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt and in his half of the draw is another Egyptian, third seed Karim Abdel Gawad. The other Malaysian in the boys’ competition is Mohd Zul Azri.

The last Malaysian to win the world junior boys’ title was Ong Beng Hee in 1999.

Wee Wern sets sights on seniors

From the Malaysian Star

Malaysia's British Junior Open champion Low Wee Wern will turn 19 this month, and she is no longer eligible to compete in junior tournaments.

The Penangite will now turn her attention to competing on the Wispa circuit tournaments to improve on her world rankings.

The three-time Asian junior champion, whose birthday is on July 25, said that it was a disappointment that she would not get to take part in the World Juniors for Under-19 players in Chennai (July 31-Aug 5).

"I have to concentrate on playing in more professional tournaments," said the world No. 38 ranked Wee Wern, who hopes to get among the top 30 by the end of the year.

"I will play in at least eight tournaments over the next six months to achieve my goal."

Wee Wern, who bagged the British Junior Open Under-19 title in January, is now the fourth ranked national player behind Nicol David, Delia Arnold and Sharon Wee.

She will feature in the US$16,000 NSC Series No. 6 tournament, starting today at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil. Wee Wern is third seed and will meet Japan’s Misaki Kobayashi in the first round. She is tipped to play against world No. 23 and top seed Delia Arnold in the semi-finals.

"I defeated Delia in the Sukma (Malaysia Games) final in Terengganu last year. But this time I can expect a tough match as Delia is well-prepared after a recent three-month training stint in England," said Wee Wern, who has been training for six years under Aaron Soyza in Penang.