Results – Final Qualifying Round: Malaysian Squash Tour II
Andrew Lee (MAS) bt Marcus Sim Wei Jie (MAS) 3-0: 12-10, 11-6, 15-13
[4] Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) bt [8] Chris Lo (HKG) 7-11, 9-11, 1-7 ret.
[3] Tsun Hei Yuen (HKG) bt [5] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) 11-2, 11-1, 11-5
Ryan Pasqual (MAS) bt [7] Mohammad Jafari (IRI) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10,
15-13
Unseeded 18-year-old Eain Yow Ng battled through a tense five-game
final against compatriot Elvinn Keo in the Malaysian Squash Tour II,
PSA M5 tournament to lift his first ever PSA World Tour title -
while fellow Malaysian Sivasangari Subramaniam took the Women’s
crown.
World No.170 Eain Yow swept past a trio of seeds en route to the
final with pre-tournament favourite Carlos Cornes Ribadas, fifth
seed Valentino Bong and number three seed Addeen Idrakie all being
put to the sword in a series of dominant displays from the teenager.
Keo, meanwhile, had already participated in a five-game thriller
against Mohd Syafiq Kamal in the last eight, before dispatching
Ahmad Al-Saraj to ensure an all-Malaysian final.
Keo took the opening game in a quick-fire start from the 27-year-old
before Eain Yow, showing a maturity that belied his youth, fought
back to ensure parity in the second and he followed that up by going
ahead in the third to open up a one-game lead.
Eain Yow had lost out in the final of the previous instalment of the
Malaysian Tour and looked be heading for redemption until a strong
response from Keo in the fourth brought the match back to all square
to set up a deciding fifth game.
However, the momentum soon shifted back in Eain Yow’s favour and he
pulled away to close out a 6-11, 11-2, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7 victory to
secure his maiden PSA World Tour title.
"I’m so, so happy to win my first PSA title after reaching three
finals and losing them all," said Eain Yow.
"I want to thank my sponsors, Salming, and my coach Andrew Cross for
helping me to improve my game. I hope I can continue with this form
in the next Malaysian Tour, next week in Bukit Jalil."
Meanwhile, the Women’s event saw Subramaniam make it a Malaysian
double after defeating experienced Australian Lisa Camilleri in
five.
Camilleri went a game ahead early on before Subramaniam surged back
to take a 2-1 lead, which Camilleri soon obliterated to level
proceedings.
There was to be no stopping Subramaniam though, as the 17-year-old
powered to victory in game five for the loss of just a solitary
point to lift her second successive PSA World Tour title after
triumphing in the first edition of the 2016 Malaysian Tour last
month.
"I don’t know how to describe the feelings I have after winning two
straight PSA titles in a month," Subramaniam said.
"I’m really, really happy with my performance and hope to win my
third title next week."
Home hero Sivasangari Subramaniam and Australia’s Lisa Camilleri
will line up against each other in the final of the Malaysian Squash
Tour II, PSA W5 final after they rose to victories over Japan’s
Satomi Watanabe and Malaysian qualifier Aifa Azman, respectively.
Subramaniam is set to appear in her second successive PSA World Tour
final as she bids to win back to back titles for the first time in
her career after triumphing on the first edition of the 2016
Malaysian Tour with victory over Ho Tze-Lok in the showpiece finale.
The 17-year-old World No.73 has maintained her strong performances
into this tournament in Kuala Lumpur and, with her fixture against
Watanabe delicately poised at a game apiece, eventually seized the
initiative mid-way through to record an 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7
victory to move through to the final.
Camilleri, meanwhile, needed all of her experience to overcome
14-year-old surprise package Aifa Azman in a dramatic five-game
affair. The 33-year-old went 2-1 down and seemed to destined to exit
the competition, only to battle back and force through the win that
sees her too advance to a second consecutive PSA World Tour final
after she reached the same stage in November’s Queensland Open.
Home qualifier Aifa Azman continued her stunning progress in the
quarter-final of the Women’s Malaysian Squash Tour II, PSA W5
tournament with a sensational 3-1 win against second seed Lotte
Eriksen.
The prodigious 14-year-old had already beaten fifth seed Sadia Gul
in the previous round and added Eriksen to her list of triumphs
after a virtuoso display that saw the teenager take it 11-9, 2-11,
11-4, 12-10 to reach the semi-final.
Up next for Azman is a meeting with experienced Australian Lisa
Camilleri, who maintained her winning start to her first PSA World
Tour event of 2016 as she saw off Andrea Lee in comfortable fashion.
Satomi Watanabe is the only other qualifier still in with a chance
of lifting silverware after the 17-year-old from Japan dispatched
Nazihah Hanis just one day after Hanis had stunned pre-tournament
favourite Vanessa Raj in the opening round.
Sivasangari Subramaniam, who is now the highest seeded player left
in the tournament, will go head-to-head with Watanabe for a place in
her second successive PSA World Tour final after she rose to a
routine win over Azman’s sister, Aika.
Number one seed and pre-tournament favourite Vanessa Raj suffered a
shock defeat to World No.130 Nazihah Hanis in round one of the
Women’s Malaysian Squash Tour II, PSA W5 event – just two days after
Hanis’s 19th birthday.
Hanis shot out of the traps and built up a seemingly unassailable
2-0 lead, catching her opponent cold with some sumptuous drop shots
and attacking with vigour. Raj recovered though to wipe our Hanis’s
lead and seemed destined to complete the comeback before a resilient
Hanis rediscovered her rhythm in a dramatic fifth game to secure the
win courtesy of an 11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-9 scoreline which has
seen her reach the quarter-final of a PSA World Tour event for the
first time since May 2015.
Japanese qualifier Satomi Watanabe awaits Hanis in the next round
after she upset eighth seed Sammer Anjum with a strong 3-1 triumph.
Norwegian number two seed Lotte Eriksen had better luck in her first
round fixture with Nur Aliah Izzati, seeing off the local player in
three to ensure a winning comeback from a hiatus that has lasted for
longer than a year. She will look to continue her strong start to
the tournament against home qualifier Aifa Azman, who moved past
Sadia Gul, in the last eight.
Andrea Lee is the other qualifier to advance to the quarter-final
after an exciting five-game thriller against number four seed
Lakeesha Rarere. Lee fell behind twice before finally managing to
shift the momentum in her favour in the fifth to close out the win
and set up a meeting with experienced Australian Lisa Camilleri
after the 33-year-old defeated Zoe Foo Yuk Han.
Sivasangari Subramaniam and Aika Azman complete the quarter-final
draw after respective straight games triumphs over Chan Yiwen and
Noor Shadira.
All but one of the qualifying spots in the main draw of the Women’s
Malaysian Squash Tour II, PSA W5 tournament have been taken up by
home players after Andrea Lee, Aifa Azman and Nur Aliah Izzati all
won in the final qualifying round.
Lee came up against South Korea’s Min Ju Park in her match and came
through a tightly-contested opening game courtesy of a tie-break
victory to go ahead. Lee further exerted her dominance in the second
and carried her momentum into the third game to close out a 12-10,
11-6, 11-9 victory – securing a place in her first PSA World Tour
main draw of 2016.
There, she will face Australian number four seed Lakeesha Rarere as
her quest to claim a quarter-final berth for the first time in 18
months continues.
Azman sealed her main draw participation thanks to a routine 3-0 win
against Catur Yuliana. Game one, which Azman edged, was the closest
of the lot but the Malaysian soon went up a gear to take the result
in straight games. She will go head-to-head with Pakistan’s Sadia
Gul in round one of the main draw.
Elsewhere, Izzati followed in her compatriots leads by storming to
victory over fellow Malaysian Lai Wen Li. A dominant display from
Izzati was enough to give her the win in three and set up a main
draw meeting with Norwegian second seed Lotte Eriksen.
Japan’s Satomi Watanabe prevented Ooi Kah Yan from making it a
Malaysian quartet after dispatching her in a comfortable win and she
will meet Sammer Anjum as she looks to continue her progress so far.
Unseeded 18-year-old Eain Yow Ng caused a huge upset in the opening
round of the Malaysian Squash Tour II, PSA M5 tournament with
stunning 3-1 triumph over top seeded Spaniard Carlos Cornes Ribadas
in Kuala Lumpur.
Ng, who made it to the final of the previous instalment of the
Malaysian Tour, went a game down after a narrow defeat but battled
his way back into the match to level things up in a tense second
game tie-break. From there, the World No.170 had complete control of
the match and dropped just four more points throughout the final two
games as he surged to a 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-1 victory.
His reward is a quarter-final clash with fellow Malaysian Valentino
Bong, who recovered from 2-1 down to dispatch Hong Kong qualifier
Tsun Hei Yuen.
Muhammad Hannan was the only other seeded player to miss out on a
last eight berth after a 3-0 defeat to Spain’s Bernat Jaume saw him
bow out of the competition. Jaume will come up against third seed
Addeen Idrakie in the next round.
Elsewhere, second seed Sanjay Singh Chal cantered through his first
round tie with wildcard Darren Rahul Pragasam to set up a
quarter-final clash with Jordan’s Ahmad Al-Saraj who, along with
Jaume, is one of just two non-Malaysian’s left in the tournament
after he beat Ryan Pasqual.
Number four seed Elvinn Keo and Mohd Syafiq Kamal will engage in an
all-Malaysian quarter-final face off thanks to victories over Andrew
Lee and Muhd Asyraf Azan, respectively, with Kamal staging a
magnificent comeback from a two-game deficit.
Malaysian duo Ryan Pasqual and Andrew Lee secured their places in
the main draw of the Malaysian Squash Tour II, PSA M5 tournament
after claiming respective wins over Mohammad Jafari and Marcus Sim
Wei Jie in the final round of qualifying.
Pasqual started strongly in his fixture with Jafari and surged to a
comfortable one-game advantage. Jafari responded though and began to
increase the pressure on Pasqual, who had to work extremely hard,
but he took games two and three on the tie-break to seal an 11-7,
12-10, 15-13 victory.
Jordan’s Ahmad Al-Saraj awaits Pasqual in the first round of the
main draw where a win could see the latter through to an
all-Malaysian quarter-final clash against either second seed Sanjay
Singh Chal or wildcard Darren Rahul Pragasam.
Lee, meanwhile, also managed a straight games triumph over Jie and
will play Elvinn Keo for a place in the last eight.
Hong Kong’s Tsz Kwan Lau joins Pasqual and Lee in the main draw
after an injury to compatriot Chris Lo saw him advance. Lau fell two
games behind and looked destined to be heading to an early exit
after going 7-1 down in the third. However, Lo suffered an injury
that meant he was unable to continue, therefore sending Lau through
to the main draw action where he will line up against Addeen Idrakie.
Tsun Hei Yuen prevailed in the other final qualifying round fixture
against Ong Sai Hung and is rewarded with a main draw matchup
against Valentino Bong.
