Singapore bags four squash golds at SEA Junior Individual Championships
SINGAPORE – On court and still under probation, Singapore's top squash junior Ong Zhe Sim put a tough start to 2025 behind her on May 13, when she retained her girls' under-17 title at the South-east Asian Junior Individual Championships.
Just six months ago, the teenager's future in the national set-up was in limbo following a dispute with the Singapore Squash Rackets Association (SSRA).
The 16-year-old was initially dropped from the national set-up in December 2024 for breaching the athletes' agreement by turning down 'national representation when called upon', said the association.
After her parents lodged an appeal, she was eventually placed on a six-month probation from January.
Although the situation was initially difficult, her relationship with the SSRA has improved in the last few months, said Zhe Sim, who credited the support of her family, friends, teammates, and the association for helping her through that challenging period.
The Singapore Polytechnic student said: 'At the start of the year a lot of things were happening – I felt very depressed about it, the news was out and I couldn't do anything much about it.
'But a lot of people supported me, including the association, my teammates, my friends, even those who were not in squash. Mentally, I was really affected, but my parents helped a lot with that and supported me.'
The South-east Asian Junior Individual Championships, which took place at the Vajiravudh College in Bangkok, was her first major event of the year. Zhe Sim, who defeated Malaysia's Ooi Wei Min 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 for the gold, was pleased with how she performed, and she hopes to return to the Thai capital in December for the SEA Games.
In the final, the top seed claimed the first two games against Malaysia's Wei Min, but her opponent clawed back to take the third as Zhe Sim began to tire and mistakes crept into her game.
Switching tactics in the fourth game as she slowed her pace, she eventually triumphed 3-1 in 28 minutes.
She said: 'I feel very happy with my performance this time because I think my skills during the matches were executed well, and it came out to be what I expected.
'It means a lot to me because it's an achievement, even if it might not be a big tournament as compared to Asian Individual (Championships), but it means a lot because I still met some strong players.'
Zhe Sim was one of four Singaporean athletes to win gold at the regional meet, where the Republic also secured two silver and six bronze medals.
It was an improvement from the previous edition in 2024, when they collected a haul of three golds, two silvers and six bronzes.
Also standing atop the podium were Ethan Kuan (boys' U-17), Kareena Sashikumar (girls' U-11) and Naisha Singh (girls' U-15).
It was a breakthrough for Ethan, who ended a two-year title drought after his last individual win at the 2023 Korea Junior Open.
The 16-year-old had come close several times, finishing runners-up on several occasions, including at the Korea Junior Open in 2024.
Arriving in Bangkok as the top seed, Ethan was confident of a good showing but faced an unexpected setback after coming down with a high fever of 38.5 deg C at the start of the week.
But the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student pressed on under the careful watch of his coaches and a teammate's parent, who is a doctor.
He said: 'At first I was a bit shocked and I was scared because I had the ability and potential to carry myself to the trophy. I started to doubt myself a little bit but I just focused on my recovery and getting well as soon as possible.'
In the final, he faced unseeded Inigo Jordan of the Philippines, who had earlier knocked out his teammates Sean Wong and Shiv Kaul.
With a gold medal at stake, Ethan held his nerve and completed the job, defeating Inigo 11-9, 11-5, 11-9.
He said: 'I'm very proud of myself for how I handled it. I was down with a fever at the start of the week and I kept pushing through, I tried my best regardless of the situation and I'm thankful for all the support.'
Kimberly Kwek joined The Straits Times in 2019 as a sports journalist and has since covered a wide array of sports, including golf and sailing.
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