LAST week, he was a disappointed man. This week, he is a determined man.
After settling for a bronze medal in the men’s team event, top seed Ng Eain Yow made a strong start to his bid to reclaim the men’s singles title for Malaysia by thumping Qatari Syed Amjad 11-3, 11-1, 11-2 to enter the quarter-finals of the Asian Games squash competition at the HOC Squash Centre.
“Today was good. I feel that after last week’s slight disappointment in not reaching the final (of the men’s team event), I started well and stayed strong,” said Eain Yow.
The Malaysian men’s team had to settle for bronze after losing 1-2 to eventual champion India in the semi-finals.
However, Eain Yow said he had learned a few things that could help his bid for the gold over the next three days.
“The court conditions here are slightly different from what we’re used to, so I feel now that I have a better understanding on how to play on this court. I feel it will be to my advantage this week.
“With the air conditioning on so high, it’s a bit colder than normal, so the bounces of the ball are slightly different compared to the events that we play sometimes.
“I feel that I didn’t make use of that that well last week, so I am going to focus on doing that this week,” said the 25-year-old, who had a first-round bye.
He will face Kuwaiti Abdullah Almezaye, who stunned Pakistan’s Azim Khan 11-4, 1-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, for a place in the semi-finals today.
The last time Malaysia tasted victory in the men’s singles event was through Azlan Iskandar at the 2010 Guangzhou edition.
Before than, Ong Beng Hee had triumphed twice at the 2002 Busan and 2006 Doha editions.
Joining Eain Yow in the last 16 is Addeen Idrakie, who beat Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 13-11.
S. Sivasangari and Aira Azman also had no problem progressing to the quarter-finals in the women’s singles competition.
Sivasangari, the silver medallist in Indonesia five years ago, strolled to an easy 11-3, 11-2, 11-1 win over Pakistan’s Noor Ul Ain while Aira overcame Macau’s Liu Kwai Chi 11-0, 11-4, 11-4.
