Birthday joy as Yiwen clinches first title
PETALING JAYA: Junior squash player Chan Yiwen (pic) sure knows how to give herself a birthday present.
Yiwen, who turned 17 yesterday, beat top seed Ooi Kah Yan in the girls’ Under-19 final at the National Junior Circuit Grand Finals on Sunday her first title in that agegroup.
Yiwen hopes to keep the momentum going when she competes in the Malaysian Open at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil from Oct 16-21.
“I played well against Kah Yan. I also stuck to my game plan,” said Yiwen yesterday.
“I’m pleased with result, especially since it’s my birthday today.
“I really did not expect to win as I’ve been focusing on my studies a bit more, with my Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations in November.
“It’s a good boost before the Malaysian Open. It will be my last tournament before I take a study break.
“I hope to do well. I’ve only made the quarter-finals on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour, so I hope to go a little further this time.”
The Malaysian Open, which was last held in 2014, has been reduced to a lower level tournament – a PSA25 (total prize money of US$25,000; RM105,000) for men and a PSA10 (total prize money of US$10,000; RM42,000) for women.
World No. 105 Yiwen needs to start from the qualifiers with Kah Yan, Lai Wen Li, Aifa Azman, Amirah Rusydina Rosli, Nur Aliah Izzati, Jessica Keng, Yee Xin Ying, Aira Azman and M. Kiroshanna.
Rachel Arnold, S. Sivasangari, Aika Azman and Andrea Lee will feature in the main draw.
For the men, world No. 32 Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan has been seeded second behind world No. 27 Alan Clyne of Scotland.
National champion Ivan Yuen is seeded fourth while world No. 83 Ng Eain Yow has been given a wildcard into the main draw.
Eleven others – Mohd Syafiq Kamal, Mohd Addeen Idrakie, Elvinn Keo, Sanjay Singh Chal, Ong Sai Hung, Darren Rahul Pragasam, Ryan Pasqual, Mohd Farez Izwan, Mohd Hannan Tarmidi, Danial Nurhaqiem and Mohd Ezzri Nazri – will start from the qualifiers.