SRAM in talks with potential sponsors to send juniors to overseas tournaments

BUKIT JALIL: The Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) are scouting for more sponsors for the junior players.

And SRAM president Nik Razeen Adam Daud is keeping a tight-lip on who they could be.

“Yes we are in talks with a few sponsors, but we won’t say who or how many, but we will announce in the next few months when we have finalised it,” said Nik Razeen.

“We are being proactive in looking for sponsors, we cannot just sit down and wait.”

He added that CIMB Bank had pledged to continue their funding for the junior programme for the next four years.

“Among the programmes their sponsorship will cover are the National Junior Championships, CIMB Circuit and the District Training Centres (Pusat Latihan Daerah) programme,” he said.

But at the moment it still looks like SRAM still have no choice but send a smaller group of players for the prestigious British Junior Open in Birmingham, England, from Jan 2-6.

Due to recent budget cuts by the National Sports Council (NSC), SRAM director Mejar (Rtd) S. Maniam (pic) had earlier said they were lacking the funds to send players for international tournaments until further notice.

“Before this, we usually send around 20 players for the British Junior Open where the funding are shared between NSC and CIMB Bank, but now we can only send half where only the top few players will be able to go,” said Nik Razeen.

“But we do welcome parents and players who are able to find their own sponsors, and if they can make it into the semi-finals, SRAM will reimburse them.”

SRAM have played their part in producing world-class players like eight-time world champion Nicol David, Ong Beng Hee, Mohd Azlan Iskandar, Low Wee Wern, Nafiizwan Adnan and others.

Nicol came through the junior ranks by winning all the age categories - Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 in the British Junior Open.

Nicol also created many records for winning the most number of PSA titles – a total of 81. She also became the first women player to win eight world titles and the first player to win back-to-back world junior title.