Andrea, Sivasangari in World Juniors quarter-finals
ANDREA Lee and S. Sivasangari were left to fly the national flag after advancing to the quarterfinals of the girls’ competition at the World Junior Squash Championships in Tauranga, New Zealand yesterday.
Five other Malaysians crashed out in the last-16 to leave jointfifth seeds Andrea and Sivasangari the only national juniors still standing.
Sivasangari defeated teammate Zoe Foo 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 to set up a last-eight showdown with top seed Hania El Hammamy of Egypt, who ended the run of Chan Yiwen 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 in the fourth round.
“We play each other a lot, so Zoe knows my game very well,” said 2016 world junior semi-finalist Sivasangari. “I just had to try to keep it tight and stay in front.”
“It’s my second world junior quarter-final. Hania beat me badly when we played (at the Women’s World Championship) in Egypt (in April) so I’ll be hoping to get my revenge.”
Andrea reached the quarter-finals by beating Elise Lazarus of England 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 and will meet Rowan Reda Araby in a repeat of their last-eight clash in the 2016 edition which the Egyptian won.
Another Malaysian, 15-year-old Aifa Azman, gave second seed Zeina Mickawy of Egypt a bit of a scare before bowing out 12-10, 1311, 11-7.
In the boys’ fourth round, Ong Sai Hung dragged top seed Youssef Ibrahim to the limit before the Egyptian twice recovered from a game down to book his semi-final spot with a 9-11, 1614, 14-16, 11-7, 11-5 win.
“I was surprised by his performance, but he beat one of my teammates yesterday so he’s having a great run,” said Ibrahim of the tough challenge posed by Sai Hung.
“He attacks so well, I couldn’t stop him, and the cold conditions suited him. I just had to try to keep the rallies alive and hope for a mistake.”
Darren Rahul Pragasam was ousted 11-6, 11-6, 11-0 by European junior champion Victor Crouin of France to leave Malaysia without a representative in the last-eight, a year after Ng Eain Yow lifted the title in Poland.