NATIONAL junior squash player M. Nickhileswar hailed his sensational triumph at the 31st Asian Junior Squash Championships in Islamabad as the perfect motivation ahead of the World Junior Championships in Houston, the United States, from July 12 to 23.
The 16-year-old player aims to surpass his performance at last year’s World Junior Championships, where he was sent packing in the round of 64.
“It’s a good booster definitely (World Junior Championships). As you can see, we have good players in team event and I am looking forward to that.
“For the individual event, I just want to perform better than last year and hopefully, I can do well,” he said in an audio recording shared with the media.
Nickhileswar was crowned as the boys’ under-17 (U-17) champion after defeating Pakistan’s Abdullah Nawaz 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6 in a thrilling match lasting 74 minutes.
Meanwhile, girls’ U-19 champion U. Thanussa was delighted with her feat in Islamabad after enduring disappointments in the previous two editions due to injury.
She said her focus now shifts to the world junior meet and hopes to perform well in both the individual and team events.
Harleein Tan, who won the girls’ U-15 title, is not setting any targets in her maiden world junior championships as she just wants to seize every moment on the court.
Thanussa clinched the title by defeating Akari Midorikawa from Japan 11-5, 11-7, 11-4, while Harleein emerged as champion after beating Hong Kong player Lo Pui Yin Chloe 11-8, 11-4, 11-6.
