Kiroshanna sets up Ayumi date in U-17 final at KL Junior International

KUALA LUMPUR: Negri Sembilan’s M. Kiroshanna is fancied to win her second title in the REDtone Kuala Lumpur Junior International Squash Open Championships.

She stormed into the girls’ Under-17 final after beating Penang’s Teoh Li Yen 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8 in the semi-finals at the National Squash Courts in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Kiroshanna will take on second seed Ayumi Watanabe of Japan in the final today.

Ayumi, who is based in Penang and trains under coaches Aaron Soyza and Khoo Teng Hin for the past 18 months, defeated Kedah’s Nurul Farzana Fairuz 11-4, 11-9, 11-9.

This will be the third final for Kiroshanna in five years. In 2013, she bagged the girls’ Under-11 title and two years later she finished runner-up to Kedah’s Wong Heng Wai.

“I’m ready for the challenge against Ayumi although she has improved tremendously since I last met her two years ago,” said Kiroshanna.

“I beat her easily then but it won’t be the same now. Ayumi is inspired by her older sister Satomi, who has a good track record in Malaysia.

“But I’m prepared to give it my best shot,” said Kiroshanna, a Year 9 student at Epsom College in Malaysia at Bandar Enstek.

Kiroshanna is using this tournament as a warm-up for the British Junior Open in Birmingham (Jan 3-7) where she will compete in the Under-17 category.

Her trip will be funded by her father Manoharan Krishnan Kutty who will accompany her to Birmingham on Dec 29.

She hopes to reach the last eight in the prestigious annual event. Back in 2015, she finished ninth in the Under-15.

Meanwhile, Jayden Oon and Joachim Chuah kept hosts Kuala Lumpur’s flag flying after they qualified for the finals in the boys’ Under-9 and Under-15 respectively.

Top seed Jayden had no problem beating Kedah’s Sim Wei Yeak 11-5, 11-0, 11-6 in the semi-finals.

Second seed Joachim, on the other hand, had to dig into his reserves before prevailing 11-3, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 13-11 against Hong Kong’s Au Man Lap in a gruelling semi-final tie.

Jayden will face Pahang’s Darwish Sheikh Muhammad in the final while Joachim takes on top seed Asad Ullah Khan from Pakistan.

Darwish beat Muhd Haiqal Hazim Syarudin from Kedah 8-11, 11-1, 11-9, 12-10 while Asad edged Ishant Shah from Penang 11-4, 7-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-3.