KL Intl Junior meet makes grand return

PETALING JAYA: The Redtone KL International Junior squash championships, the biggest agegroup competition in the sport in Asia, will make a grand return after a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19 from Dec 6-11.

The event, organised by Squash Racquets Association of Federal Territory KL (SRAFTKL), has attracted 821 participants from 15 countries, including hosts Malaysia.

Wales will be making their first appearance and will be joined by Eqypt, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia, making up 157 of the total participants.

Hosts Malaysia will be represented by 664 players with Selangor having the highest number at 176 participants.

The last tournament was held in 2019 with 860 players from 20 countries competing in the event.

“We are happy to see that the tournament has not lost its glamour, after attracting another big entry this time,” said SRAFTKL president Steven Kwan.

“For the fourth year running, it has become the platinum event after being the biggest in Asia. We hope to see it grow further.”

There will be six categories each in the boys’ and girls’ sections.

They are the Under-9, Under11, Under-13, Under-15, Under17 and Under-19 events.

The boys’ Under-13 recorded the highest number of entries at 133 players.

The Asian Squash Federationsanctioned event, which will be held at the Jalan Duta Courts and National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil, is the second biggest squash competition in the world after United States Junior Open.