Sarawak squash players face defeats

KUCHING: The hopes of Sarawak’s male and female squash players, Hi Jia Rong and Whitney Isabelle Wilson, to advance to the semi-finals of the Sukma XII Squash Championship were dashed after they suffered defeats yesterday.

This setback saw Hi Jia, 20, and Whitney, 20, fall short in their quest to secure gold medals in the Sukma XII Games for Sarawak.

In the third-round matches held at the Sarawak Squash Center in Petra Jaya this morning, Hi lost to Joachim Chuah Han Wen from the Federal Territory with a score of 0-3.

Meanwhile, in the women’s singles category, Sarawak representative Whitney Isabelle Anak Wilson also faced a similar fate, losing 0-3 to Sabah player Xin Ying Yee.

Hi Jia Rong (left) of Sarawak plays against Joachim Chuah of Federal Territory in the Squash Mens Quarter final. Photo: Ramidi Subari

These losses meant that Sarawak failed to progress to the semi-finals in both the men’s and women’s singles squash categories.

On the other hand, two Sarawak mixed doubles teams successfully secured their spots in the quarter-final matches scheduled for this afternoon.

Altamis Aqhar Sallam A Sufian – Eugenia David dominated their match, defeating the Melaka pair Zhi Xuan Goh and Veroon Heng with scores of 11-7 and 11-8.

Additionally, Harith Danial Jefri – Nathalie Shu Eng Sim defeated Pradeep Dev Prakash – Puteri Rania Zahirah Mior Ahmad Nazril with scores of 11-2, 9-11, and 11-8.

The victories achieved by the Sarawak mixed doubles squash teams today mean that Altamis-Eugenia will face Isaac George Varughese Vivek and Yu Hie Chan from Negeri Sembilan while Harith-Puteri will compete against Izz Nabil Iman Shahrizan Azrol and Wen Min Ooi from Perak in the quarter-finals at 2:30 PM.

Present at the mixed doubles match earlier were Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan; Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development Dr. Ripin Lamat, and Tanjong Datu Assemblyman Azizul Annuar Adenan.