HCL-SRFI Successfully Concludes 21^st Asian Junior Team Championship

Chennai, February 2023: HCL, a leading global conglomerate, along with the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), today announced the successful completion of 21st Asian Junior Team Championships in Chennai at the Indian Squash & Triathlon Academy. The championship has been supported by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports & Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.

The final match in the men’s category was played between India and Pakistan where Pakistan won the title with a score of 3-0. Whereas, in the women’s category, the final match was played between Malaysia, and Hong-Kong China, with Malaysia taking home the title with the score of 2-0. 

The tournament witnessed participation from 69 players from 10 Asian countries including Chinese Taipei, Hong-Kong China, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India. Leading players like Anahat Singh (IND, Asian Junior Rank 3 (GU17), Noor Zaman (PAK, Asian Rank 2 (BU19), Whitney Isabella Anak Wilson (MAL, Asian Junior Rank 2 (GU15), Doyce Lee Ye San (MAL, Asian Junior Rank 2 (GU17) participated in the championship.

Congratulating the winners, Sundar Mahalingam, President- Strategy at HCL Corporation said, “We were happy to host the 21st Asian Junior Team Championship on home ground and it marks our long-standing relationship with SRFI. Being able to showcase the best of junior squash talent from Asian nations once again truly excites the growing squash community in India and is certainly an ideal way to start 2023. The championship provided the perfect platform to showcase HCLs commitment to being a catalyst to maximize human potential.”  

Cyrus Poncha, Secretary-General, ‎Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) said, “The Asian Junior Team Championships have been exciting and continues to contribute to building a positive momentum growth of Indian squash players and performance strategies. I would like to express my gratitude to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports & Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for their continuous support. A big thank you to HCL who have been supporting the sport as part of its Squash Podium Program and helped elevate India on the world map of Squash. All participating players displayed exceptional skills and will only raise the level of competition in times to come. Heartiest congratulations to the winners and wish you the very best. Your talent and dedication on the court makes will ensure that you will have great career in the sport.”

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).

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.

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