India’s emerging player Velavan Senthilkumar came from two games down to beat Jordan’s Mohammad Al-Sarraj 12-14 9-11 11-6 11-8 11-7 and bag the U-19 Asian Junior Individual squash championship title. The Chennai lad, who trains at the Indian Squash Academy (ISA), is the second Indian to win the title after Ravi Dixit in 2010.

Incidentally Dixit also used to train at the ISA. In terms of seedings, Velavan being second and Sarraj, fourth, this was an expected outcome but the Jordanian had looked in a fine nick during his semi-final match when he accounted for the top seed and reigning world junior champion Ng Eain Yow of Malaysia. According to coach Bala Murugan, Velavan took time to settle down but once he got into the rhythm there was no looking back.

AFC U-19 Championship

The AFC U-19 Championship, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the sport’s Asian governing body, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition has been held since 1959. Between 1959 and 1978 the contest held every year, since 1980 it has been held every two years.

The tournament has been played in a number of different formats during its existence. Currently it consists of two stages, similarly to AFC’s other Asian Championship competitions. The qualifying stage is open to all AFC members, and the final stage is contested between sixteen teams.