By AFTAR SINGH
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia are assured of two titles in the lower categories of the Asian Junior individual squash championships in Amman, Jordan, today.
The girls Under-13 and boys Under-15 will both feature all-Malaysian finals.
Top seed S. Sivasangari will face second seed Andrea Lee in the girls' Under-13 final.
In the boys' Under-15 final, British Junior Open Under-13 champion and top seed Ng Eain Yow will square off against second seed Mohd Syafiq Mohd Kamal.
Sivasangari, who won back-to-back titles in the Milo All Star Junior and the Penang International Age-Group competitions recently, defeated Zoe Foo, the joint third-fourth seed, 11-5, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4, in the semi-finals yesterday.
Andrea Lee, runner-up in the British Junior Open in Sheffield in January, edged joint fifth-eighth seed Satomi Watanabe of Japan 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7 to make the final.
Eain Yow, a form one student at Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS), defeated China's Tsun Hei Yuen 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 to reach the boys' Under-15 final.
Mohd Syafiq got the better of joint third-fourth seed Darren Ti Luun Chan 11-8, 11-9, 13-11 in the other semi-final.
National coach Raymond Arnold said that Sivasangari was playing well and looked almost certain of winning the girls Under-13 title.
In the boys' Under-13, Malaysia's top seed Mohd Farez Izwan Mohd Mukhtar reached the final after beating India's Ranjit Singh 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9.
The Kota Kinabalu-born Farez will face joint fifth-eighth seed Mohamed Alsaraj of Jordan in the final.
In the girls Under-15, Malaysia's Jadeleen Lee, the second seed, will take on top seed Uen Shan Choi of Hong Kong in the final.
Meanwhile, it was sad day for second seed Tan Yan Xin, who was upset by joint third-fourth seed Anaka Alankamony of India in the girls' Under-19 semi-finals. Yan Xin lost 7-11, 6-11, 8-11.
Raymond said that they were banking on Yan Xin to reach the final after her good performance in the Milo All Star meet last month.
"But she failed to play her normal game and made some errors which allowed the Indian player to control the match," said Raymond.
It was Yan Xin's third appearance in the championships.
She made her debut in 2009, losing in the third round. Last year, she reached the quarter-finals.
(Malaysian unless stated)
BOYS SEMI-FINALS
Under-13: Mohd Farez Izwan Mohd Mukhtar bt Ranjit Singh (Ind) 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9; Mohammad Alsarraj (Jor) bt Shamil Wakeel (Sri) 11-8, 11-8, 11-2.
Under-15: Ng Eain Yow bt Tsun Hei Yuen (Chn) 11-8, 12-10, 12-10; Mohd Syafiq Mohd Kamal bt Darren Ti Luun Chan 11-8, 11-9, 13-11.
Under-17: Tayyab Aslam (Pak) bt Syed Ali Bukhari (Pak) 11-7, 14-16, 11-8, 11-9; Ahmad Khaleel Alsaraj (Jor) bt Kush Kumar (Ind) 11-9, 11-8, 12-10.
Under-19: Nasir Iqbal (Pak) bt Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1; Ramit Tandon (Ind) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8.
GIRLS' SEMI-FINALS
Under-13: S. Sivasangari bt Zoe Foo 11-5, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4; Andrea Lee bt Satomi Watanabe (Jpn) 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7.
Under-15: Uen Shan Choi (Chn) bt Adya Advani (Ind) 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Jadeleen Lee bt Aika Azman 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9.
Under-17: Ka Po Ho (Hkg) bt Ka Hei Chu (Hkg) 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5; Saumya Karki (Ind) bt Sue Ann Yong 11-3, 11-9, 11-2.
Under-19: Tsz Wing Tong (Hkg) bt Aparajitha Balamurukan (Ind) 14-12, 11-9, 9-11, 15-13; Anaka Alankamony (Ind) bt Tan Yan Xin 11-7, 11-6, 11-8.
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