KUALA LUMPUR: United States-based Sanjay Jeeva will represent Malaysia for the first time in the World Team Squash Championships (WTC) in Tauranga, New Zealand, from Dec 11-17, and he wants it to be a memorable one.
The 24-year-old, who trains under Robert McDavid and Rodney Martin in Greenwich, Connecticut, said: "I want to win all my matches to help Malaysia do well in New Zealand.
"I have trained with Addeen Idrakie. C. Ameeshenraj and Hafiz Zhafri before. We want to put up a strong challenge in the WTC."
Malaysia are drawn in Group A with five-time champion Egypt and Ireland.
Sanjay won three Satellite tournaments in America this year, and he had upstaged a few higher-ranked players to break into the world top 100 recently.
Sanjay, who turned professional in 2016, is now ranked 93rd. Seeded fourth, he finished second in the Costa Rica Open last month.
Meanwhile, Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia director, Major (rtd) S. Maniam, expressed confidence that the team can finish among the top 12 among 24 teams.
He said Malaysia will be represented by a young team as Asian Games champion Ng Eain Yow has opted out of the WTC (to take a break) while five-time national champion Ivan Yuen, 33, has decided to retire after 20 years in the national team.
"This will be good exposure for the three players (Sanjay, Ameeshenraj and Hafiz), who are playing for the first time. We believe this is an opportunity to showcase the young players' capabilities."
In the 2019 edition in Washington, Malaysia finished ninth.
