PETALING JAYA: National squash star Ivan Yuen admits that his performance in the Santiago Open last week was below par and is seeking to put up a stronger showing in the Valencia Open, which begins today.

The 22-year-old Ivan was far from his usual standards as he laboured to a five-set win over unheralded Frenchman Yann Perrin in the Santiago Open first round. The two-time Asian Junior champion then went down tamely to top seed Adrian Grant of England in the quarter-finals.

“Overall, I didn’t do well at all in Santiago ... I could have done a lot better,” said Ivan.

“But I want to put it behind me. I want to give a much better showing in Valencia.

“Having played so poorly last week, I don’t want to put too much expectations on myself ... it’s important that I remain focused and play at my own pace.”

The national No. 3 will certainly have a tougher time in Valencia as he is tipped to take on third seed Chris Ryder of England in the first round.

The lanky Selangor player has never played against the experienced Ryder in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour and, if he manages to overcome the world No. 43, he will probably run into Egypt’s Amr Khaled Khalifa in the last eight.

Grant is again the top seed and could be a potential semi-final hurdle, if Ivan gets that far.

The other notable players in the fray are second seed Alan Clyne of Scotland and third seed Omar Abdel Aziz of Egypt.

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