Jessica breaks her streak of being second best with junior open crown
BUKIT JALIL: The smile on national junior squash player Jessica Keng said it all.
Her dogged determination worked wonders when she finally broke her run of second-place finishes by lifting the girls’ Under-19 title in the REDtone Kuala Lumpur Junior Open at the National Squash Centre here yesterday.
The 16-year-old got the monkey off her back by defeating Negri Sembilan’s Ooi Kah Yan 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 in a closely-contested match.
She was trailing 3-7 in the fourth game but showed great determination to dig herself out of trouble. She fought her way back to 7-9 and reeled in the next four points and her first title.
“I was really confident in the first two sets and told myself to stay focused but I grew overconfident in the third game and I lost it,” said Jessica.
“I was scared and nervous in the fourth when I was down 3-7 but I didn’t want to let it go to the fifth game.
“I regrouped, calmed down and found my game again. I caught up and won the match.”
Prior to her victory this year, Jessica was the runner-up in her last three tournaments – the Hong Kong Junior Open (Under-17) in August, Asian Junior Championships ( Under- 17) in September and the CIMB Grand Final (Under19) in October.
It was her fourth KL Junior Open title as she was the Under-13 champion twice in 2014 and 2015, and the Under-15 champion in 2016.
She missed out on last year’s edition due to injury.
“I’m focused on my training and fitness after losing in the finals of the last few tournaments especially after the CIMB Grand Final,” she said.
“This is an important tournament as the result is considered a trial run for the Asian Junior Team Championships in Pattaya next year (in January). I’m glad I won,” added Jessica, who now has her eye on the prestigious British Junior Open championship in January next year.
FINAL RESULTS
● BOYS
Under-9: Jayden Tan (Sel) bt Jayden Louis (Nse) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8.
Under-11: M. S. Nickhileswar (Pen) bt Aqil Mirza Naim Khairil Fariz (Ked) 11-5, 11-4, 11-2.
Under-13: Harith Danial Jefri (Swk) bt Veroon Heng (Mel) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.
Under-15: Ameeshenraj Chandran (Nse) bt Andrik Lim (Mel) 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10.
Under-17: Ishant Shah Atul Kumar (Pen) bt S. Kiven (Ked) 11-4, 11-3, 11-7.
Under-19: Duncan Lee (Sab) bt Siow Yee Xian (Mel) 10-12, 6-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-5.
● GIRLS
Under-9: Amber Kristy Muyou (Sab) bt Emelda Camallia Abdul Razak (Per) 8-11, 12-10, 14-12, 11-0.
Under-11: Whitney Isabelle Wilson (Ked) bt Goh Jia Xuan (Mel)11-4, 11-9, 11-4.
Under-13: Sashmini Chandran (Sel) bt Anrie Goh (Ked) 11-3, 11-9, 11-4.
Under-15: Yasshmita Jadish Kumar (Nse) bt Sehveethraa Kumar (Ked) 11-7, 11-9, 11-9.
Under-17: Wong Heng Wai (Ked) bt Kiroshanna Manoharan (Nse) 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8.
Under-19: Jessica Keng (Sab) bt Ooi Kah Yan (Nse) 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9.