KUALA LUMPUR: Despite their inexperience, Harleein Tan and V. Haneesha teamed up to end Negri Sembilan's 14-year wait for a Malaysia Games (Sukma) squash gold in Kuching today.
Negri thought they had lost the final after dropping the first two matches in the mixed team final against Sarawak before leveling the tie.
It all came down to 15-year-old Harleein and 16-year-old Haneesha, and the debutantes did not disappoint, defeating Sarawak's Whitney Isabelle Wilson-Nathalie Sim 11-6, 11-8 in the women's doubles match to secure the gold medal at the Sarawak Squash Centre.
Sarawak started strong, winning the first two points.
Altamis Aqhar Sallam Sufian-Eugenia David gave Sarawak the lead with a 9-11, 11-7, 11-10 victory over Negri's Isaac George Varughese Vivek-Yu Jie Chen in the mixed doubles.
Harith Danial Jefri-Desmond Ong extended Sarawak's lead with an 11-10, 10-11, 11-4 win over Qayyum Adam Khairul Hilmi-Shamiel Haeyzad Sharulhisam in the men's doubles.
However, Negri fought back.
C. Ameeshenraj subdued Jia Rong Hii 11-2, 11-4, 11-3, while Yasshmita Jadish Kumar defeated Xin Yii Lee 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 in the men's and women's individual matches, respectively.
Negri's last Sukma squash title was in the men's team event at the 2010 Melaka edition.
Team manager Shahrul Azizi Che Rahim expressed his delight:
"We did well to level the tie before winning the gold medal. Harleein and Haneesha surprised everyone by playing their hearts out to upset the more experienced Sarawak pair.
"It feels really nice to end our 14-year gold drought in squash."
Meanwhile, Kedah edged the Federal Territories 3-2 to claim the bronze medal.
Of the six gold medals offered in squash, Sarawak claimed two, while Negri Sembilan, FT, Melaka, and Sabah each won one.