Malaysia dominate quarter-final berths at Asian Individual Squash Championships
MALAYSIA continued to showcase dominance in Asian squash as five national women's players advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2025 Asian Individual Championships at the Sarawak Squash Centre, Petra Jaya, today.
Top seed Rachel Arnold had little trouble dispatching Japan's Risa Sugimoto in straight games, winning 11-5, 11-7, 11-8.
The 29-year-old is set to face China's Tong Tsz Wing, who earlier defeated Singapore's Au Yeong Wai Yhann 11-4, 11-6, 11-7.
Also recording a comfortable victory was Aira Azman, who overwhelmed Japan's Boram Ryoo 11-1, 11-3, 11-4. Aira is scheduled to face fellow Malaysian Yee Xin Ying in tomorrow's last eight. Earlier, Yee beat another Japanese opponent, Erisa Sano, 11-4, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7.
Aifa Azman also secured her place by defeating Chan Sin Yuk of China 11-3, 11-5, 11-5. She will next face another Chinese player, Lee Ka Yi.
Another Malaysian player, Ainaa Amani, extended the women's team's excellence by defeating Japan's Akari Midorikawa 11-3, 11-3, 11-6. Ainaa is set to meet Ho Tze Lok in another quarter-final tie.
Meanwhile, in the men's category, Joachim Chuah advanced to the last eight after a hard-fought five-game battle against Pakistan's Noor Zaman, winning 11-3, 11-3, 3-11, 10-12, 11-2. Joachim will face India's Velavan Senthilkumar next.
His teammate, Ameeshenraj Chandaran, also earned a convincing win, defeating India's Suraj Chand 5-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 to book a meeting with top Qatari seed, Abdulla Al-Tamimi.
Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) head coach, Shahril Shahidan expressed confidence in the growing maturity of the young Malaysian players in high-intensity matches.
'In the women's category, we have strong hopes, especially with Rachel as the top seed.
'As for the men's matches, they are expected to be more intense, but I believe in the physical ability and fighting spirit of our young players. Our hope is for them to remain consistent,' he told Bernama.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Speedy Tigers end up committing harakiri instead
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia started the day needing a big favour from New Zealand and they got it. The Kiwis, who played their Nations Cup Group B match at 6pm, beat Pakistan 4-3 at Bukit Jalil. And this was the type of score needed to keep alive Malaysia's semi-finals hopes. Malaysia, who started their match against Japan two hours later, suddenly found themselves with a golden opportunity to squeeze into the semi-finals, ahead of Pakistan on goal difference. Now it was the turn of Sarjit Singh's team to do their part, get a two-goal win against Japan. And the Japanese even seemed to pave the way for the Speedy Tigers by conceding two goals and falling behind 2-0. Malaysia scored through Norsyafiq Sumantri (fifth minute) and Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (26th). But four minutes from time, the stick wielding Samurai got one back. Only one goal and Japan also lost the match, but it was enough to break Malaysian hearts and wreck Malaysian dreams. Malaysia should blame themselves for conceding that goal after letting Koji Yamasaki sound the board in the 56th minute. It sounded like harakiri, a self-inflicted fatal wound conceded due to lapse of concentration, that same old sad story. Malaysia and Pakistan both had four points from three group matches, but the Green Shirts qualified for the semi-finals on goal difference. Fitri, who had nothing to be joyful about despite being named Man of the Match, said that his team always conceded "opening minute goals" and "final minutes goals" in matches. "We need to find an answer to the problem," he lamented. Sarjit said that the team knew they needed a two-goal margin, and he had told the players it was important to get the third goal. "Now we have to refocus and make sure we finish fifth after failing to achieve our semi-final target," said Sarjit. Results Group B: New Zealand 4 3 Pakistan Malaysia 2 1 Japan June 20: 5th-8th classification
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
A catwalk for Rachel and Co in first round of Asian C'ships in Kuching
PETALING JAYA: National women's squash players didn't put a foot wrong at the Asian Championships in Sarawak after all six representatives advanced to the third round without a hitch. Top seed Rachel Arnold (pic) didn't face too big of a challenge against Taiwan's Lee Yi-hsuan in the second round as she won 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 at the Sarawak Squash Centre in Kuching yesterday.
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
M'sia dominate quarter-final berths at Asian Individual Squash Championships
MALAYSIA continued to showcase dominance in Asian squash as five national women's players advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2025 Asian Individual Championships at the Sarawak Squash Centre, Petra Jaya, today. Top seed Rachel Arnold had little trouble dispatching Japan's Risa Sugimoto in straight games, winning 11-5, 11-7, 11-8. The 29-year-old is set to face China's Tong Tsz Wing, who earlier defeated Singapore's Au Yeong Wai Yhann 11-4, 11-6, 11-7. Also recording a comfortable victory was Aira Azman, who overwhelmed Japan's Boram Ryoo 11-1, 11-3, 11-4. Aira is scheduled to face fellow Malaysian Yee Xin Ying in tomorrow's last eight. Earlier, Yee beat another Japanese opponent, Erisa Sano, 11-4, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7. Aifa Azman also secured her place by defeating Chan Sin Yuk of China 11-3, 11-5, 11-5. She will next face another Chinese player, Lee Ka Yi. Another Malaysian player, Ainaa Amani, extended the women's team's excellence by defeating Japan's Akari Midorikawa 11-3, 11-3, 11-6. Ainaa is set to meet Ho Tze Lok in another quarter-final tie. Meanwhile, in the men's category, Joachim Chuah advanced to the last eight after a hard-fought five-game battle against Pakistan's Noor Zaman, winning 11-3, 11-3, 3-11, 10-12, 11-2. Joachim will face India's Velavan Senthilkumar next. His teammate, Ameeshenraj Chandaran, also earned a convincing win, defeating India's Suraj Chand 5-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 to book a meeting with top Qatari seed, Abdulla Al-Tamimi. Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) head coach, Shahril Shahidan expressed confidence in the growing maturity of the young Malaysian players in high-intensity matches. 'In the women's category, we have strong hopes, especially with Rachel as the top seed. 'As for the men's matches, they are expected to be more intense, but I believe in the physical ability and fighting spirit of our young players. Our hope is for them to remain consistent,' he told Bernama.
