Glass panel shatters during match at National Squash Centre
Into million pieces....the broken glass panel at one of the courts in National Squash Centre during the Asian Junior Championships. - FAIHAN GHANI / The Star
PETALING JAYA: Players at the Asian Junior Squash Championships received a rude shock when a glass panel at one of the courts at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil here shattered during a match.
The right glass panel on Court 4 broke during the boys’ Under-19 match between Singapore’s Chua Man Chin and Iran’s Mojtaba Kafili Vijouyeh on Tuesday.
The Singaporean player had just won the second set and was opening the court door to walk out when the incident happened.
Neither player was injured and Man Chin went on to beat the 16th-seeded Mojtaba 11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8 on another court, to seal his second-round spot.
This is the second time in a week that one of the court panels had shattered.
Last Friday, the right panel on Court 5 broke during a national training camp exercise.
“We are not sure if there is a defect in the glass panel ... but we do know that it’s unlikely to be caused by any physical actions because these glass panels are very durable,” said Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) director of coaching Major (rtd) S. Maniam.
“It could be that the door hinges had expanded due to the high temperature in the stadium complex.
“We have taken pictures of the damage and sent them to the manufacturers – ASB. We hope to hear from them soon.
“For now we have allocated a reserve court. But, as a precaution, I hope that players and coaches will not slam the door, especially after losing matches.”
SRAM vice-president Nik Razeen Nik Daud has urged the Stadium Board of Malaysia, the owners of the squash complex and all its courts, to look into the matter.
“The stadium board owns this facility and is in charge of maintenance. I hope they’ll look into this because an incident like this, that has happened twice in a week, certainly hinders our competitions and training programmes,” said Nik Razeen.
