Singapore claim four golds at Korea Squash Junior Open
There were emotional scenes in Incheon, as Singapore siblings Jackrish and Kareena Sashikumar bagged squash titles at the same tournament for the first time.
After Jackrish, 13, beat China’s Liu Yuanxi 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 in the boys’ Under-13 final at the Korea Junior Open on Aug 8, he hugged his younger sister and shed tears of joy.
Moments earlier, Kareena, 10, had overcame Rio Yoshino of Japan 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 to win the girls’ U-11 title at the adjacent court as the Singapore team claimed four golds at the Aug 5-8 event.
Jackrish said: “The first person I went to hug after my match was my sister. I was extremely happy because we both took the titles. My parents were also very proud of both of us.
“At first there were no words, it was just joy, hugging each other, then I congratulated her on her win and then there were tears of joy.”
Kareena added: “When I won (my final), I ran to his court to watch his game and when he won, he didn’t say anything, he just looked very happy.”
Her victory took her gold tally to four this year – she had also won the U-11 category in May’s South-east Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships and the Penang Junior Open and Lion City Junior Open in June.
“I’ve done very well over the last few weeks and I expected to win,” she added.
Jackrish, who won his first international title since an U-13 gold at the South-east Asian Junior Individual Championships in August 2023, was thrilled at getting the better of his opponent, the Asian top-ranked player in his age group.
“I honestly felt very happy as I lost to him last time, just a few months ago. This was my last Under-13 event and I’m very proud that I managed to claim the title.”
National coach Rahul Vasishtha, felt “incredible pride” for Jackrish and Kareena, adding: “We are incredibly proud of our juniors for their outstanding performances.
“Their hard work, perseverance and sportsmanship have brought honour to our nation, and with the Olympics at the back of their minds, we hope to see them strive for more in the coming months and years.”
Singapore’s other golds came from Au Yeong Wai Iynn, who beat Cho Ah-yeon of South Korea 8-11, 11-9, 11-0, 11-4 in the girls’ U-19 category, and Naisha Singh, who thrashed Japan’s Himari Midorikawa 11-0, 11-4, 11-1 in the U-15 final.
Wai Iynn, who beat teammate Lee Zi Fang in the semi-finals, said: “It was a very good experience playing in this tournament. It’s my first international title, so I’m quite happy with it.
“Definitely playing against my own teammate was more stressful because there’s always that bit more pressure. But for me, I went in without too many expectations, just wanting to play good squash and I think I did that.”
Wai Iynn, who is currently doing her A levels in Bristol in Britain, said that she is looking to “improve her junior rankings” and will play at the Welsh Juniors next.
Naisha added: “I’m really happy and satisfied with my performance, I always feel really proud when I win international tournaments, so the Korean Open was no exception.”
The Republic also claimed silvers in the boys’ U-11 (Kaelen Low), U-15 (Rehaan Singh) and U-17 (Ethan Kuan).
Jackrish, Kareena and Naisha will next play at the Kuala Lumpur Junior Open from Dec 3-8.
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