SEMIFINALIST. Filipino squash player Christopher Buraga makes it to the semifinal round of the Under-17 category at the 7th Borneo Junior Open in Sarawak, Malaysia on Thursday (July 14, 2023). He defeated Malaysian Daarvish Thangaraja, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6. (Contributed photo)
MANILA – Filipino squash player Christopher Buraga kept his winning form to secure a semifinal berth in the boys' Under-17 category of the ongoing 7th Borneo Junior Open in Sarawak, Malaysia.
The second-seeded Buraga fought back from a third-set deficit to prevail over Malaysian Daarvish Thangaraja, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6.
He will be up against Malaysian Altamis Aqhar Sallam A Sufian, who prevailed over Nittish Manimaran, 11-1, 11-9, 11-6.
The other semifinal match will feature Malaysians Addin Iqwan and Aquil Mirza Naim bin Khairil Fariz.
Iqwan stamped his class over Tay Jun Ren, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8, while Fariz defeated Fariz Abdul Fahmi Abd Basir, 11-3, 11-5, 13-11.
"My performance was good in the first and second sets, then in the third set, I had many errors," said Buraga, No. 10 in the Asian Squash Federation (ASF) U-17 rankings after the match.
"So in the fourth set, I forced myself to be stable so that my shots would come back, and his game plan would also be ruined."
In the Under-19 category, Jonathan Reyes lost to Malaysian Harold Rynesh Aloysius, 10-12, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 7-11, in the second round of the Asian Junior Super Series gold event.
Reyes, who ruled the U-17 category at the CIMB National Junior Circuit Leg 2 last week, will be gunning for ninth place against Malaysian Jeffery John Lewis.
Aloysius conquered compatriot Kuhen Manimaran, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4, in the quarterfinals to set up a Final Four duel with Tay Jun Qian, who won over Kreethi Pillay Muniswaran, 11-8, 11-13, 11-3, 11-4.
Also advancing were Malaysians Thineshraj Chandrasegaran, who defeated Jaydn Jhankarpal Singh, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, and Wong Lee Hong, who clobbered Pradeep Dev, 11-5, 11-3, 11-3. (PNA)
