Things look bright for Birmingham mission

are on track to enjoying another successful year at the British Junior Open in Birmingham on Jan 2-6.

Malaysia won four titles at this year’s edition, a best-ever haul from the competition.

Whitney Isabelle Wilson (girls’ Under-11), M. Nickhileswar (boys’ Under-11) and defending champion Aira Azman (girls’ Under-15) are the top seeds in their respective age groups next month.

Aira’s sister Aifa, who won the girls’ Under-17 title this year, will this time be competing in the Under-19 category, which S. Sivasangari won at the last edition.

Aifa will be seeded joint fiftheighth alongside teammate Chan Yiwen in the ultra-competitive class which also features Egyptian Hania El Hammamy as the top seed.

Winning the title will, however, put Aifa on par with former World No 1 Nicol David on four titles at the British Junior Open.

Siow Yee Xian, seeded joint fifth-eighth, will be the nation’s best bet in the boys’ Under-19 though in-form Duncan Lee, who recently came from two sets down to defeat him and win the Under-19 title at the Redtone Kuala Lumpur International Junior Open, will be the one to look out for.

Duncan will be competing in the boys’ Under-17 class where he has also been seeded joint fifth-eighth.

Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) director of coaching Major (Rtd) S. Maniam is confident of another positive outing but highlighted that a kind draw will help.

“Equalling what we did this year will not be easy but we are hoping to score podium finishes and I will be happy with that,” said Maniam.

“The Egyptians will be challenging and it will not be easy if we have to play them early on in the competition.”

Maniam disclosed that 15 out of 31 players who will be competing in Birmingham are either fully or partially sponsored by SRAM and National Sports Council while the rest are self-funded.