Navaneeth Prabhu wins Under-11 Hong Kong Junior Squash Open

Navaneeth Prabhu, a trainee of the Indian Squash Academy, clinched the Boys’ U-11 title at the Hong Kong Junior Squash Open 2013 defeating local favourite Au Lap Man in a close five-set encounter.

Navaneeth lost the first and third game as his opponent played aggressively, moving him to all corners. However, the supremely fit Navaneeth picked up all that was thrown at him and wore down his opponent, winning his first international title this year (8-11),11-3,(9-11),11-8,11-8.

In the semifinals, Navneeth beat country mate Neel Joshi 11-5,11-8,(3-11),11-9.

In the quarterfinals, he defeated Egyptian Eltorgman Salaheldin in similar fashion, coming back from a game down to win the final game in the tie breaker (8-11),11-8,(9-11),11-5,14-12. It was a nail biting finish, where he had saved two match balls.

Navneeth was delighted with the result and thanked his parents, coaches at the Indian Squash Academy, the Squash Rackets Federation of India and his sponsor Mr. Iqbal Sait, Managing Director, Head of India Operations, Saggezza.

Unfortunately there was not more joy for the Indian camp when Mohammad Alsarraj, the Jordanian Squash star and top seed beat Adhitya Raghavan 3-1 (11-8 13-11 7-11 11-9) in the Boys’ U15 final. Adhitya, also a trainee from the Indian Squash Academy, battled all odds, defeating higher ranked opponents in his quarterfinal and semifinal before going down to Alsarraj.