29 Nov 2014
Manama, 29 November 2014. Between November 25 and 29 the squash players of Aspire Academy competed at the GCC Championship in Bahrain and achieved strong results in the U-15 and U-19 categories.
Aspire scholarship holder Syed Azlan Amjad lived up to his expectations by winning the Individual Under 19 GCC Championship by defeating the top three Kuwaiti players on route to victory including a 3/0 win over number 1 seed Khalid Jenaideil 11/6, 12/10, 11/7 in the gold medal match. With Kuwait was traditionally dominating most of the age groups this was a significant win for Azlan and for Qatar. On the other side of the draw Aspire’s Abdulwahab Al-Ishaq made it through to the semi-finals and took the bronze medal in the event.
Meanwhile in the U15 category, 12-year-old foundation year student Abdulaziz Al-Ishaq performed well and could also take home the bronze medal after reaching the semi-finals, where he was defeated by eventual winner Ali Alqallaf of Kuwait. Aspire’s Hamad Al-Amri unfortunately drew the number one seed in the quarter finals of the U15 event and went down in a tight three game match.
Good results in the team events
Aspire Academy’s squash program student-athletes made up 7 of the 8 players representing Qatar in the round robin team event. Both U15 and U19 teams performed well in their opening two matches against hosts Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, recording comprehensive wins. On the final day against Kuwait, Hamad Al-Amri, Abdulaziz Al-Ishaq and Rashid Al-Harib all gave a good account of themselves but all lost in straight games against their stronger opponents. This meant the Qatar U15 team finished with the silver medal.
The U19 teams match was a much closer affair with Azlan again beating the Kuwaiti number 1 Khalid Jenaideil after Abdulwahab Al-Ishaq was beaten in the opening match. In the final and deciding match Qatar’s number 3 player Sadam Mehawesh was narrowly beaten in a close four games match. This relegated the team to the silver medal position.