18-year-old Indian squash talent Velavan Senthilkumar had long been singled out as the one to carry the mantle forward from the likes of Saurav Ghosal and Harinderpal Sandhu. The rising star justified the faith in him by clinching the boys’ U-19 title at the 23rd Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday.
The second-seeded Senthilkumar produced a stunning show of guts and resilience to come back from two games down and beat the fourth seed Mohammad Al-Sarraj of Jordan 12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7. The marathon battle lasted 56 minutes.
The Chennai boy was not the only medal winner from India. The contingent of 31 players added two more medals – a silver in the boys’ U-17 category and a bronze in the boys’ U-15 section. The B17 top seed Tushar Shahani was the favourite to emerge victorious in his age group but ultimately lost in the final to settle for the silver. Shahani was upset by the eighth-seeded Pakistani Abbas Zeb, 7-11, 8-11, 16-14, 7-11 in 44 minutes.
Yash Fadte was the one who pocketed a bronze in the boys’ U-15 category. He lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champion Danial Nurhaqiem Sharul Izham, 7-11, 11-3, 7-11, 1-11.
Steady improvement from Senthilkumar
Senthilkumar’s win makes him the second Indian ever to win this prestigious title after Ravi Dixit did it six years ago. The past one year has seen some steady improvement from this prolific player which was reflected in his performances at different top-level tournaments. He was the only Indian to make it to the quarter-finals of the World Junior Individual Squash Championship this year. In 2015, he clinched a silver and a bronze at the Commonwealth Youth Games following which he was crowned the U-19 national champion.
The left-handed Velavan’s opponent in the final was not easy by any means as he had been a giant-killer and had accounted for the top seed and reigning world junior champion Ng Eain Yow in the semi-finals. His ability to turn around the match even after two games down surely speaks volumes of his maturity and burgeoning confidence.
National coach Cyrus Poncha too lauded Velavan’s efforts and called it a proud moment.
“I have been expecting this from Velvan and he has lived up to our expectations with his tremendous victory. It is a proud moment,” he said. There is surely no doubt now that India’s future in squash lies in good hands.
