Bruneians Abang Muhammad Huzairie Abang Muhammad Ali and Hj Sufri Hj Abdul Hamid exceeded expectations when they reached the quarter-finals the Kijono Cup Open Squash Championship 2014 in Jakarta last week.
The duo were only aiming at getting past the first round during the May 15-17 tournament at the Gelora Bung Karno Squash Complex, but wins in their first two games put them through to the last-eight in the Indonesian capital.
Abang Muhammad Huzairie kicked off his campaign by defeating Robert William of the Philippines 3-1 before cruising past Indonesia's Irwin Kutima 3-1 in the second round on Friday. The 24-year-old player then fell 3-0 to Daryl Tan of Singapore in Saturday's quarter-finals.
Hj Sufri, meanwhile, defeated Ilham Dki of Indonesia 3-0 in the first round before edging Wieldy Muhaling, also from Indonesia, 3-2 in the second round. Hj Sufri, who believed Malaysia would be the main threats in the competition, was proved right when he was sent packing by eventual champion S Puvendran from Malaysia.
"As expected I was beaten by a Malaysian in the quarters... Which is not a bad way to bow out of the tournament," said Hj Sufri in an interview with The Brunei Times. "It was a very good outing for us and I am glad that we achieved our target of getting past the first round," added Abang Muhammad Huzairie.
