Slog it out: Sarawak’s Whitney Isabelle Wilson (second from right) goes for a shot as her partner Nathalie Sim (left) looks on during their match against Negri Sembilan’s V. Haneesha and Harleein Tan. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/ The Star
JUST five days ago, Negri Sembilan’s Harleein Tan-V. Haneesha were given a sound beating, losing 6-11, 3-11 to Sarawak’s Whitney Isabelle Wilson-Nathalie Sim Shu Eng in the girl’s doubles squash bronze medal match.
The Negri duo, however, have a never-say-die mindset.
The debutants stole the limelight in the mixed team final at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) yesterday when they saved the tie for their state with an unexpected 11-6, 11-8 win over Whitney and Nathalie at the Sarawak Squash Centre in Petra Jaya yesterday.
That win propelled their team to a 3-2 triumph over Sarawak.
With the defeat of four days earlier still fresh in their minds, Harleein-Haneesha were nervous as they knew they faced an uphill battle. But they knew they had nothing to lose and stunned everyone by pulling off an incredible victory, the only Negri doubles pair to win.
“Honestly, it feels like a dream and feels so unreal ... I’m just so happy,” said Harleein.
“I’m only 15 years old and she’s 17 whereas they’re older than us.
“We’re still proud of our team and ourselves no matter what happened. In the individual event, we lost to them quite badly.
“Since some of our teammates lost before us, our mood down. But we changed our mentality ... we thought ‘Let’s just play and we’ve got nothing to lose.
“We tried our best throughout the match and everything went well.”
This is Harleein-Haneesha’s first stint together as a girls’ doubles pair and they did not expect to win a gold, given the short period of time they had to prepare for this tournament.
“This is my first doubles tournament and my first time partnering Haneesha,” said Harleein.
“We only trained together for around six months, so I never thought that we could win gold in our first Sukma,” said Harleein.
Harleein-Haneesha were grateful for the advice and unwavering support given by their teammates.
“Honestly, our team were very supportive,” said Haneesha.
“They said it would not matter if we win or lose, as long as we played our best.
“Their support really boosted our mood and made us have really strong self-belief, which motivated us to play even better than what we can.”
Meanwhile, Kedah took bronze after defeating Federal Territories 3-2 in the bronze-medal match.
RESULTS
Mixed team
Final: Negri Sembilan bt Sarawak 3-2 (C. Ameeshenraj bt Hii Jia Rong 11-2, 11-4, 11-3; Isaac George Varughese Vivek-Chen Yu Jie lost to Altamis Aqhar Sallam Haji A Sufian-Eugenia David 11-9, 7-11, 10-11; Qayyum Adam Khairul Hilmi-Shamiel Haeyzad Sharulhisam lost to Harith Danial Jefri-Desmond Ong Yan Sheng 10-11, 11-10, 4-11; J. Yasshmita bt Lee Xin Yii 11-4, 11-4, 11-3; Harleein Tan-V. Haneesha bt Whitney Isabelle Wilson-Nathalie Sim Shu Eng 11-6, 11-8).
Bronze-medal match: Kedah bt Federal Territories 3-2 (Mohd Shauqi Haliim Ahmad-Aqil Mirza Naim Khairil Fariz lost to Yong Juin Xian-Praviin Jeeva 11-8, 8-11, 4-11; K. Sehveetrraa bt T. Dakshayani 11-7, 11-2, 11-1; Mohd Fayyad Wajdi Hashim-Aira Azman bt P. Pradeep Dev-Puteri Rania Zahirah Mior Ahmad Nazril 11-9, 11-6; Dayana Qistina Anuar-Anrie Goh Chu Yu bt Arissa Faria Syed Humaiyun Kebir-M. Thivyashini 11-7, 11-9; Mohd Firdaus Naufal Zulkifli lost to Joachim Chuah Han Wen 3-11, 3-11, 0-11).
