Abu Dhabi: India’s Ananya Shrivastava and Anushri Shah emerged winners in the Under-16 and Under-13 age groups, respectively, at the UAE Open Junior Squash Championship held at the Indian Social Centre (ISC) last Friday.
Meanwhile, Egyptians Adham and Ammar Salem won the Under-16 and Under-13 age groups, respectively, in the boys’ categories. The tournament, which kicked off almost two weeks ago, saw participation from around 80 children from schools and clubs across the UAE.
Shah, 11, who won the finals 2–1 in a tightly fought three-game battle (11–8, 10–12, 11–8) was thrilled with her triumph: “I am excited. This is my first tournament and it was really fun. When the final started, it was a little difficult but then it got easier.”
In the U-13 boys’ finals, Ammar won in straight sets 2–0 (11–5, 11–4). At only 12 years, Ammar has been playing squash for four years and has already participated in the A2 Squash Tournament in Dubai, the Pioneer Junior in Germany, the Amsterdam Open and the US Open. With prominent Egyptian Ramy Ashour as his squash idol, Ammar hopes to play as professional in the future.
He was also a competitor in the U-16 age group on Friday and played the final against his brother, 14-year-old Adham, who got the better of him
2–1 (7–11, 13–11, 11–9).
P. Sathyababu, General Secretary of the ISC, said: “We are very happy to have this tournament in the centre and we hope to take it to an international level.”
