KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia have again proved to be a dominant power in Asian squash.
Malaysia won the lion's share of the honours in the Asian Junior Championships which ended in Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday, with three gold, two silver and nine bronze from eight events.
Hosts Pakistan had a medal haul of 2-2-4 while India were third with two gold and one silver.
Malaysia had 14 players in the semi-finals and five made it to the finals.
Malaysia's gold medal winners were Harleein Tan (girls Under-15), M. Nickhileswar (boys' Under-17) and U. Thanussa (girls' Under-19).
While Malaysia's third seed Harith Danial Jefri was not expected to get the better of Pakistan's reigning world junior champion Hamza Khan in the boys' Under-19 final, his top seeded compatriot, Raziq Putra Fakhrur Razi, was upset by India's second seed Shiven Agarwal in the boys' Under-15 final.
Last year in Dalian, China, Malaysia won five of the eight titles at stake.
National chief coach Ajaz Azmat said: "Overall it was a good outing by the Malaysian players."
He said the Asian meet was a good preparation for the Malaysians ahead of the World Junior Championships in Houston, United States from July 12-23.
In Houston, Malaysia will be represented by Harith, Wa Sern, Nickhileswar, Aqil Mirza Naim Khairil Fariz, Altamis Aqhar Sallam Sufian and Ivan Chang (boys), and Thanussa, Whitney Isabelle Wilson, Doyce Lee, Arnie Goh, Harleein and V. Haneesha (girls).