Chennai, February 2023: HCL, a leading global conglomerate, along with the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) is all set to kick off its 21st Asian Junior Team Championships in Chennai at the Indian Squash & Triathlon Academy from 8th February 2023. Spanning five days, the tournament will witness participation from 10 Asian countries including Chinese Taipei, Hong-Kong (China), Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India. Including this year, Chennai has played host to the Championships five times. All matches will be streamed live on the SRFI Facebook page (www.facebook.com/indiasquash) and HCL For Sports Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HCLForSports/) and YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/HCLEnterprise.
India has been an integral part of the Asian Junior Squash Championships since 1983, its inception year, held in Singapore. In all the editions of the championships held so far, India has been a consistently strong performer, almost always being ranked among the top four teams in both the boy’s and girl’s categories. The first time that India achieved the top rank in the Boys’ Team Championships was in 2011 when the championship was held in Ratmalana, Sri Lanka and thereafter in 2017 (Hong Kong). On the other hand, the country achieved first rank in the girls’ team championship for the first time in 2013 (Seoul, Korea).
Pakistan, the top seed in the men’s category would include Noor Zaman (Asian Rank 2 (BU19), Muhammad Hamza Khan (Asian Rank 35 (BU19), Muhammad Ashab Irfan (Asian Rank 289 (BU19) and Anas Ali Shah (Asian Rank 92 (BU19). Aira Binti Azman (Asian Junior Rank 2 (GU19), Yasshmita Jadishkumar (Asian Junior Rank 36 (GU19), Whitney Isabella Anak Wilson (Asian Junior Rank 2 (GU15) and Doyce Lee Ye San (Asian Junior Rank 2 (GU17) representing team Malaysia are the top seeds in the women’s category. India is seeded 2nd and 3rd in the Boys’ and girls’ categories respectively.
Team India will be represented in the boy’s team’s category by Krishna Mishra (Asian Rank 7 (BU19), Paarth Ambani (Asian Rank 22 (BU19)), Sharan Punjabi (Asian Rank 31 (BU19) and Shaurya Bawa (Asian Rank 2 (BU19). The girl’s team’s category boasts of U-17 Champion Anahat Singh (Asian Junior Rank 3 (GU17)), Pooja Arthi R (Asian Junior Rank 7 (GU19)), Tiana Parasrampuria (Asian Junior Rank 5 (GU17)) and Yuvna Gupta (Asian Junior Rank 42 GU19).
HCL has been supporting Squash in the country for more than seven years now with initiatives like the PSA Tours, High-Performance Camps, Referee Clinics and Training Camps for coaches and other tournaments for India’s squash players as part of the HCL Squash Podium Program. This tournament will further help squash players in achieving better seedings in the Asian and World Junior Championship. Playing with top Asian juniors will help enhance Indian players international exposure and help them enhance their performance.