Malaysia: National Junior Squash Player On Course To British Junior Open Title

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- National junior squash player S. Sivasangari has booked a semifinal berth to stay on course to the 2017 British Junior Open Squash Championship title at Sheffield, England. The Kedah-born joint 3rd/4th seed in the Girls Under 19 category marched into last-four stage after edging compatriot Andrea Lee 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7 in 38 minutes on Wednesday, according to the tournament website, www.britishjunioropen.com. In the semifinal scheduled for Thursday, the 17-year-old will be up against Zeina Mickawy who upset the tournament's second-seeded Amina Yousry 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 12-10 in an all-Egyptian battle. Besides Sivasangari, Jessica Keng also progressed to the semi-final, in the Under 15 category, by beating Nour Ibrahim 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 to set up an appointment with another Egyptian, Farida Ahmed. In the Under 13 category, top seed Aira Azman did not see much of a fight to overcome host representative Torrie Malik 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 in 21 minutes to meet joint 3rd/4th seed Salma El Tayeb of Egypt. However, lady luck was not in favour of her sister Aifa in the Under 17 category. Aifa lost 6-11, 10-12, 9-11 to Elise Lazarus of England after fighting for 48 minutes. In the boy's category, rookie Duncan Lee is the only Malaysian left in the challenge after he outclassed Karim El Barbary of Egypt 10-12, 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 to face Abdelrahman Dweek of Canada in the last-four stage. -- BERNAMA