SRAM and CIMB officials with the National Junior Circuit players at the launch of the CIMB Rising Stars Circuit and second CIMB National Junior Circuit in Bukit Jalil yesterday. — Picture by Fariz Iswadi Ismail

Eain Yow, Malaysia's first British Junior champion since Ong Beng Hee, has no fear playing against boys several years older.

"My coach (Andrew Cross) feels I should play in the Under-17 event. It's not a problem for me as I'm used to it, having played against the same players in Under-15 tournaments last year," said Eain Yow, 13, after the launch of the sixth CIMB Rising Stars Circuit and second CIMB National Junior Circuit in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

CIMB and the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) are finally beginning to see the fruits of their labour after five years of organising the junior circuit when Eain Yow triumphed at the British Juniors last December.

Eain Yow and S. Sivasangari also won at the Hong Kong Junior Open with the latter then reaching the semi-finals of the girls Under-13 at the British Juniors.

"After three or four years, we have had these success stories," said CIMB Group head of marketing and communications department, Effendy Shahul Hamid.

"We're happy that through the partnership with SRAM we have been able to quantify the result and seen the objective of our involvement in squash coming through."

The Rising Stars Circuit, for players Under-9, Under-11 and Under-13, began with the first leg on Wednesday at the Jalan Duta Squash Courts and ends on Sunday.

Two more legs will be on April 7-10 in Kuantan and May 19-22 at the Astaka Courts in Petaling Jaya.

The National Junior Circuit also began on Wednesday at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil and will be followed by tournaments in Kuching (March 24-27) and Bukit Dumbar, Penang (May 5-8) for the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 events.

The Grand Finals for both circuits take place on June 30-July 3 in Bukit Jalil.