25 Sep 2016
Kuala Lumpur, 25 September 2016. Four Aspire players competed in the "Asian Junior Squash Championships" in Kuala Lumpur from September 20 to 24 with grade 11 student Hamad Al-Amri and grade 9 student Abdulaziz Al-Ishaq both finishing in the 9/16 brackets in their respective age groups, placing them among some of the best players in Asia.
Playing in the U15 category, Abdulaziz beat Lee Jun Guang Jovan from Singapore 11-7 11-3 11-7 in his opening match before facing the number one seed Mohammed Amir Amirul Azhar from Malaysia in the last 16. Unfortunately the Malaysian proved too strong winning 11-3 11-3 11-5 although Abdulaziz gained vital experience playing against one of the best juniors in the world.
In the U17 event, Hamad won his opening match against Ong Wee Jun Anders from Singapore 11-8 11-3 6-11 11-6 and then moved on to play the number 3 seed from Malaysia, Muhammed Hafiz Zhafri Abdul Harif. Hamad seemed a little intimidated by his higher ranked opponent in the opening two games, forcing the pace and trying to end rallies too quickly resulting in unforced errors. However he settled into the match in the 3rd game and showed what he is capable of, pushing his opponent all the way but unfortunately losing out in the tie break.
Rashid Al Harib lost his opening match in the U15 category to Uzair Shaukat from Pakistan but then advanced all the way to the plate final before losing to the number 8 seed from Malaysia, Ishant Shah Atul Kumar 11-9 11-7 11-7. Waleed Zaman also played in the U15 event but was knocked out of the main draw by Neel Joshi from India and then lost to Mohammed Daniel Gharooni from Iran in the plate competition.