Kareena Sashikumar lives up to top billing to be Singapore’s first ever Asian Junior Age-Group Champion

24 May 2026

Panzhihua, Sichuan, China: Team Singapore athlete Kareena Sashikumar made history by becoming the first Singaporean to be crowned an Asian Junior champion in an age-group category. The 12-year-old from Farrer Park Primary School dominated the competition throughout the week, capturing the title without dropping a single game.

Top seed Kareena saved her best performance for the final, producing a near-flawless display to defeat Japan’s third seed, Rio Yoshino, 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 in just 15 minutes. After upsetting the tournament’s second seed in the semi-finals, Rio was unable to contain Kareena’s relentless accuracy and composure, with the Singaporean committing just one unforced error during the match.

Kareena let out a huge cry of joy after sealing the winning point and was delighted with her achievement. She said:

“I’m very, very happy with the win and with how I played today. I’m proud of myself because I trained very hard for this tournament. I’m very thankful to all my coaches, parents, and the Singapore Squash Rackets Association for supporting my journey.

This win motivates me to achieve even more in the sport, especially at the British Junior Open in January. This year, I reached the quarter-finals, and I will aim to do even better next time.”

Kareena’s triumph marks a significant milestone for Singapore Squash. At last year’s edition of the Asian Juniors, Singapore had two quarter-finalists from a contingent of 16 athletes. This year, 11 Singaporean athletes competed, with four reaching the last eight: Kareena Sashikumar (GU13), Kaelen Evan Low (BU13), Naisha Singh (GU17), and Rehaan Singh (BU17).

Alex Wan, General Manager of the Singapore Squash Rackets Association said:

“We are immensely proud of Kareena’s achievement at the Asian Juniors. She and her coaches have worked extremely hard for this success, and we hope this will be the first of many Asian and international titles to come.

Having a champion and four quarter-finalists at an Asian-level championship is a major milestone for Singapore Squash. Our ability to compete with the best players in Asia is a testament to the years of investment in our junior development programme. We hope this achievement will bring greater recognition to the sport.”

Team Singapore’s junior athletes will next compete at the Southeast Asian Junior Individual Championships in Manila, Philippines, from 10–14 June 2026.