Squash player Ng Eain Yow competing at the British Open.
PETALING JAYA: Squash player Ng Eain Yow staged a brilliant fight-back from two sets down to conquer 2016 world champion Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt to secure his first quarter-final appearance at the prestigious British Open in Birmingham on Wednesday.
World No. 13 Eain Yow was determined to turn the tables on Gawad, the 2016 world champion, and did just that with a battling 6-11, 3-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 win at Birmingham’s Rep Theatre in a 75-minute last 16 clash.
The victory also means that Eain Yow has now beaten Gawad for the second time at the British Open, achieving his first breakthrough in 2021.
However, that victory was achieved in a second round clash but yesterday’s breakthrough was significant as this is the first time Eain Yow has reached the quarter-final stage of a major event.
"Obviously, it feels amazing. I think it has been three years since I reached the quarter-finals of a Platinum event, so it has been a while coming. I have had some missed opportunities over the years, so today was really all about enjoying the crowd and the theatre," said Eain Yow.
"My dad, my coach and my team are all here, so it’s amazing.
“It’s one of the best tournaments and one of the best crowds. We’ve had such a good turnout every day and I think that helped a lot at 0-2 down.
“To be honest, I feel that neither of us played our best squash today. At 0-2 down, I was just kicking myself and saying that I couldn’t go down like this.
“There have been matches this season where I have let the match go when at 2-0 down. I was just telling myself that it is probably my last match of the season and to keep on fighting and fighting all the way to the end."
The Kuala Lumpur-born Eain Yow also became the first Malaysian since Datuk Nicol David to reach the quarter-finals since 2017. Nicol, a five-time British Open winner, bowed out at the semi-final stage of the 2017 event in Hull.
In the quarter-finals, Eain Yow will be meeting world No. 2 Paul Coll of New Zealand.
