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Milo All Stars 2005
01-04 June, Petaling Jaya,
Malaysia
FAST AND FURIOUS FINALS
Alex Wan reports on the U19
finals
The final of both the boys
and girls under-19 final were somewhat anti-climactic as they turned
out to be pretty one-sided.
The match between Joshna Chinappa and Annie Au was a
match I had looked forward to. After seeing the tall Indian
yesterday and not being impressed, I strongly believed that Au would
beat her convincingly. This, of course, was not the case as Chinappa
was pressuring the petit Au right from the word “play”.
There was nothing wrong with Au’s game but Chinappa was just
unstoppable. Her volleys and drops were simply lethal and the pint
sized Hong Kong girl simply had no chance. Size also helped Chinappa
as she managed to cover the court a lot better with far less effort.
The game started off with a few mistakes from Au and it must have
been 5-0 before the serve changed hands and it wasn’t long after
that both players came out for the 90 seconds. Advice from Hong Kong
head coach Tony Choi didn’t seem to help Au, who was struggling once
again in there. The same scenario remained for the rest of the
match.
Choi conceded later “Joshna played really well and it was nothing
like yesterday. Normally she makes quite a few mistakes but
everything was just perfect for her today”.
It was little different in the boys final, Farzan Rashid
totally outplaying a very frustrated Nathan Stevenson. Both
had beaten local boys the day before in straight games, though they
did look a lot closer than today’s final. The Pakistan national
under-19 champion was simply a class above Stevenson.
Like all Pakistanis, the amount of power in his shots is
astonishing, as Chris Simpson found out at the British Juniors this
year. The pace and speed of the ball was just too much to handle for
Stevenson, who not only lost the match, but also his temper. On many
occasions he was shouting to himself and attempted to smash his
racket, but given the way the match was going, one should be
sympathetic and forgive what should be unacceptable at this age.
Alex Wan |
"It was
indeed a lot easier than I expected as I have a lot of respect
for Annie. Today I played very well and I did not give away
too many unforced errors. I had a really bad day yesterday but
today everything was just coming in. Something was very wrong
yesterday but against Annie today, I was totally different."
Joshna Chinappa |
"I guess I
was too nervous but she also played very well. I am not too
happy with the way the match went but my hats off to Joshna,
who played flawlessly. I simply had no answer to her amazing
shots."
Annie Au |
"It was a
lot harder than the score would indicate. It’s the final after
all and you don’t normally get easy ones here. I was very
confident coming here to this tournament as only last week, I
won the Pakistan under-19 tournament. I also expect to do well
for the next British Junior Open."
Farzan Rashid |
"I feel I
played pretty OK, though there was more that could be done. He
was just too good for me but I’m still happy with my
performance here, as the semi-finals were my initial target. I
hope to come back to win next year!"
Nathan Stevenson |
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Boys
Finals:
Under-11: Bilal Zakir (Pak) bt Rishi Tandon (Ind)
9-1, 9-2, 9-1
Under-13: Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Marcus Yuen (Mas)
9-0, 9-0, rtd.
Under-15: Nousherwan (Pak) bt Farhan Khan (Pak)
7-9, 9-6, 9-4, 3-9, 9-6
Under-17: Waqar Mehboob (Pak) bt Shohaib Hassan (Pak)
1-9, 9-2, 9-6, 9-3
Under-19: Farzan Rashid (Pak) bt Nathan Stevenson (Aus)
9-2, 9-1, 9-4
Girls Finals:
Under-11: A. Anaka (Ind) bt Saumya Karki (Ind)
9-2, 9-4, 9-6
Under-13: Tan Yan Xin (Mas) bt Ankita Sharma (Ind)
9-3, 9-0, 9-1
Under-15: Zulhijjah Azan (Mas) bt Nessrine Ariffin (Mas)
9-3, 9-6, 9-6
Under-17: Loo Wee Wern (Mas) bt Kimberley Bessel (Aus)
9-2, 9-1, 9-2
Under-19: Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Annie Au (Hkg)
9-2, 9-2, 9-2
Full Draws from
MalaysiaSquash
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Sally: So near yet so far ...
Alex Wan reports from Petaling
Jaya
Malaysia's
top women junior player Sally Looi's hopes of winning the
Milo All-Stars in her final year as a junior was smashed today by
the top seeded Indian, Joshna Chinappa in the semi-final.
But, she did come close...very close!
 At one game a piece after two one-sided games, Sally walked into
court dominating the third again. Racing to a 5-0 lead in quick
succession thanks to Joshna's impatience to try hitting winners off
every shot.
The lanky Indian looked tired and gave away far too many points by
clipping the tin. Sally meanwhile simply played the ball to the back
and waited for the errors, though some of Joshna's volleys were
simply beautiful, with the error rate reduced substantially now. The
Indian managed to salvage a few points but it wasn't long before the
Malaysian was 2-1 up.
The fourth game was rather appalling for the Malaysian as Sally's
shots were extremely loose and Joshna simply put them away with some
very accurate kills in the backhand front corner.
Two games each and the same happened in the fifth. Apart from taking
a 2-0 lead, Sally never did look like she could pull it off. Joshna
on the other hand, looked tired but experience won the match for her
as she seemed to be able to handle the situation much better than
Sally.
Though most of the audience made up of locals, it was the Indians
who were shouting ferociously to lift Joshna's spirits. At one
point, the referee had to literally shut the crowd up!
More from Alex tomorrow ...
Nicol wannabe Yan Xin
through to final
From the Malaysian Star
Selangor's Tan Yan
Xin is small in size but she has a big dream – to win the world
junior squash title in six years' time.
The 12-year-old said she wants to be the second Malaysian player
after Nicol David to win the title.
“Nicol is my role model and she has won the title twice. I will be
more than happy if I can win the title at least once,'' said the
cute Yan Xin, of the Chen Moh Chinese Primary school in PJ.
Yan Xin won the girls' Under-11 title in the Scottish Junior Open in
2003. She was a quarter-finalist in the British Junior Open.
“Now I hope to win the Millo-All Star Under-13 title tomorrow,''
said Yan Xin.
Yan Xin, who won the Milo All Star Under-11 title two years ago,
qualified for the final in the Under-13 category in style yesterday.
The top seeded Malaysian did not drop a single point against India's
B. Aparajitha in her semi-final match at the Astaka Courts in Jalan
Utara here yesterday.
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Semi-Final
Results:
BOYS
Under-11: Bilal Zakir (Pak) bt Moeen Rauf (Pak) 9-0, 4-9, 9-2, 9-4;
Rishi Tandon (Ind) bt Ng Eair Wei (Mas) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.
Under-13: Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Cheong Kah Wah (Mas) 9-5, 9-2,
9-2; Marcus Yeun (Mas) bt Akshay Deepak (Ind) 9-7, 9-1, 5-9, 9-6.
Under-15: Farhan Khan (Pak) bt Juliaus Krauss (Aus) 9-3, 9-6, 9-3;
Nousherwan (Pak) bt Aditya Jagtap (Ind) 9-3, 9-2, 8-10, 9-1.
Under-17: Waqar Mehboob (Pak) bt Rex Hedrick (Aus) 9-2, 9-5, 9-4;
Shohaib Hassan (Pak) bt Choong Kam Hing (Mas) 9-0, 9-3, 9-4.
Under-19: Farzan Rashid (Pak) bt Mohd Asyraf Azan (Mas) 10-8, 9-4,
9-4; Nathan Stevenson (Aus) bt Elvinn Keo (Mas) 9-1, 10-8, 9-5.
GIRLS
Under-11: Saumya Karki (Ind) bt Yong Sue Ann (mas) 9-0, 9-0, 9-4; A.
Anaka (Ind) bt Mithila (Ind) 9-4, 9-1, 9-0.
Under-13: Tan Yan Xin (Mas) bt B. Aparajitha (Ind) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0;
Ankita Sharma (Ind) bt Ayumi Kikuchi (Jpn) 9-1, 9-2, 9-3.
Under-15: Nessrine Ariffin (Mas) bt Racheal Goh (Mas) 8-10, 4-9,
9-7, 9-5, 10-9; Zulhijjah Azan (Mas) bt Low Wee Nee (mas0 8-10, 9-7,
9-1, 9-5.
Under-17: Loo Wee Wern (Mas) bt Leung Shin Nga (Hkg) 9-6, 9-2, 5-9,
9-4; Kimberley Bessel (Aus) bt Samantha Davies (Aus) 9-4, 7-9, 9-3,
9-4.
Under-19: Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Sally Looi (Mas) 9-10, 9-4, 5-9,
9-5, 9-3; Annie Au (Hkg) bt Jessica Gillett (Aus) 9-3, 9-3, 9-0.
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31-May-05:
Mega Entry for Milo All Star
Rivalling the British Junior
Open in terms of number of entries, the Milo All Star starts today
in Petaling Jaya in Malaysia, featuring 473 players from ten
countries.
Preview from the Star of Malaysia
Sally bids to overcome
Indian top seed Joshna in Milo meet
BY S. SIVABALAN
PETALING JAYA: Top women's junior player Sally Looi is all
fired up to win the girls' Under-19 title in the Milo All Stars
squash championships, which begin today at the Astaka Squash Centre
here.
Last year, Sally was denied a place in the final by her teammate,
Delia Arnold, who went on to finish as the runner-up to top seed
Joshna Chinappa of India.
Joshna is defending her title again and for the third seeded Sally
to reach the final, she has to beat the Indian in the semi-finals.
“It's not going to be easy but it is not something that is beyond my
reach,” said Sally, who lost in five sets to Joshna in the team
event of the Asian Junior Championships in Chennai in January.
“It will be important for me to beat Joshna. She is ranked higher
than me in the world junior rankings. A win will put me in a strong
position for a good draw in the World Junior Championships in July.”
Joshna is ranked third and Sally is rung below lower. The World
Juniors will be held in Herentals, Belgium, from July 21-30.
“A lot of aspects of my game have improved over the past five
months.
“I am now more confident in taking on higher ranked players.
Hopefully, I will get strong home support to spur me on,” said
Sally.
The other Malaysians taking part in the girls' Under-19 competition
are Nabillah Ariffin and Siti Munirah Jusoh.
A total of 473 players from 10 countries will feature in the
championships.
The Under-11 and 13 competitions will be held at the Kelab Shah Alam
while the Astaka Squash Centre will stage the Under-15, 17 and 19
events.
Malaysia will have 238 players in the fray. It is the largest number
of entry for an international competition.
The other countries taking part in the championships are Singapore,
India, South Korea, Australia, Japan, Pakistan, Hong Kong, South
Africa and Sri Lanka.
The championships is organised by the Squash Rackets Association of
Selangor (SRAS) and the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) with
support from Milo and Prince.
Malaysia won four of the 10 titles at stake last year.
But this time, they are only expected to dominate the girls'
Under-13 and girls' Under-17 competitions through Nessrine Ariffin
and Low Wee Wern while Sally stands an outside chance to claim a
third title for Malaysia.
Original story from The Star
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