Girl, 12, becomes first S’porean squash player to win Asian junior individual age-group title

SINGAPORE – Kareena Sashikumar etched her name into the history books on May 24 after becoming the first Singaporean squash player to win an Asian junior individual age-group title at the Asian Junior Individual Championships.

She is the country’s first Asian junior individual champion since Mah Li Lian prevailed in 1987, when there was only one category, before various age groups were introduced in 2006.

At the Sichuan Panshiya Highland Sports Training Base in China, the 12-year-old swept past Japan’s Rio Yoshino 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 in 15 minutes to win the Under-13 girls’ final.

Kareena said: “I’m feeling very happy, very proud and very grateful to everybody… And I hope that more Singaporeans can win the Asian Junior Individual Championships.

“I trained quite hard. I put in a lot of effort and I was really hoping to win this event because it has been my aim since last year.”

Singapore’s previous best finish in the U-13 girls’ category was in 2023, when Kayla Choy placed third.

Alex Wan, general manager of the Singapore Squash Rackets Association, said Kareena’s win is a major milestone, adding: “It’s always been on the back of my mind that this is one of the things that I would like to help achieve for Singapore.”

Kareena, a Primary 6 pupil at Farrer Park Primary School, did not drop a single set en route to her title. After receiving a first-round bye, she beat three Indian opponents to reach the final.

Following an 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 win over Riyaa Dalal in the second round, she beat Alia Kankaria 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 in the quarter-finals before ousting Shanaya Parasrampuria 11-5, 11-6, 13-11 in the last four.

“It’s a great win for Kareena. Credit to her – she’s put in so much work,” said Wan. “The scores may look (like it was) easy, but mentally it was very tough.

“Every day, she keeps her focus and, thankfully, today was the best day. She was so at ease; everything just worked for her.

“This also sends a message to her peers and juniors that it is possible for a Singaporean to do this and that for me is the biggest message, and everyone will now see, ‘Okay, there’s a possibility we can match these guys’.

“The other goal I have is (for our players) to hopefully one day be in contention for an Asian Games medal.”

Kareena has her own dreams. She said: “My goal is to win the British Junior Open, represent Singapore at the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics in 2032.”

She will next compete in the June 10-14 South-east Asian Junior Individual Championships in Manila.

In the U-15 boys’ special plate for players who lost in the last 16, Kareena’s brother, Jackrish finished as runner-up after a 6-11, 11-6, 11-4 loss to Malaysia’s Wayne Isaac Wilson.

Other Singaporeans who competed in the Asian tournament included Kaelen Low (U-13 boys), Naisha Singh (U-17 girls) and Rehaan Singh (U-17 boys). They all fell in the quarter-finals.

When asked about the development pipeline, Wan said: “The youth is always the future and right now we have about 45 juniors training with us, which is nearly triple of what it was when I first came in 2020-21.

“We have invested a lot of money and time and effort into this programme and apart from Kareena, we also have four quarter-finalists (out of 11) this year, a result of years of work.”

He noted that in the last edition in South Korea in 2025, there were only two quarter-finalists out of 17 Singaporeans who competed.

“This shows everyone else that we are not first-round casualties, because that was the feeling that a lot of our juniors got every time they played someone from Malaysia or India,” Wan added.

“It was always, ‘Oh my God, I have to play against a Malaysian’ whereas now they just believe that, ‘I can challenge these guys’ and that’s really the biggest thing for us.”

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that Kareena is the first Singaporean to win an Asian Junior Individual title. It should be first Singaporean to win an Asian Junior Individual age-group title.