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UAE Junior Squash League big hit

The first-ever UAE Junior Squash League concluded with a well-attended finals event and prize ceremony at the JW Marriott Hotel here.

This inaugural competition, which was launched with the support of the UAE Squash Association and sponsors Prince, proved a huge success with nearly 80 juniors from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah competing in regional clubs over a period of 12 weeks.

The culmination of those preliminary games saw some thrilling semi-final and final matches at this climactic squash showpiece.

There were eight competitor categories in total, with three for girls and five for boys in the U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19 age groups overall.

These finals demonstrated the high standard of squash currently being played in the United Arab Emirates and the quality on show bodes well for the future of the game in the region.

In addition to the winner and runner-up accolades in each category, a prize for ‘Best Upcoming Player’ was introduced and duly won by: Jonathan Victor (U11 boys); Janhavi Agarwal (U13 girls); Youssef Salama (U13 boys); Sheriff Al Amin (U15 boys); Omer Salama (U17 boys); Jaida Hammam (U17 girls); Adham Yasser Saleem (U19 boys) and Muqqadas Javid (U19 girls).

A special mention must to Dubai-based siblings, Adham and Jaida Hammam, who both won ‘Best Upcoming Player’ awards and squash rackets kindly donated by Prince.

The finals themselves were closely fought in all categories. Barath Balaji narrowly lost a fantastic, five-game battle to Adham Yasser Saleem in the tussle for the U17 boys’ crown.

Adham’s brother, Ammar, also achieved a winner’s trophy by prevailing in a keenly contested final against Sunil Srikanth in the boys’ U15 category.

Meanwhile, Nikhil Punwaney was the winner of the boys’ U19 category against Balaji. Rithik Jalali won the boys’ U11 category and finished as the runner-up to Ayush Udyavar in the boys’ U13 ranks.

Elsewhere, the girls’ U13 title was won by Anoushka Gautam, with Shreya Singh as the runner-up, while Ragini Ghose claimed the U17 girls’ trophy at the expense of Diya Chopra.

However, those positions were reversed in the girls’ U19 final, with Chopra emerging victorious in an exciting showdown.

These final matches and the prize-giving ceremony were attended by members and representatives of the Dubai Squash and UAE Squash Associations, including: Mohammad Ali Abdullah, a board member of the UAE Squash Association representing Major General Abdul Aziz Al Bannai, the President of the UAE Squash Association.

Ali was accompanied by Abbas Khan, UAE national coach.