21-Aug-04:
SQUASHING CHILD
ABUSE IN MALAYSIA
Alex Wan reports from Kuala Lumpur
On a typical Saturday morning, the
National Squash Centre would be rather quiet and unexciting. However, this
time round, top PSA and WISPA professionals turned Good Samaritans to
raise money for a local charity. The event was planned on a small scale
but timing and fate made this a mega event featuring players the Malaysian
public had only heard of before prior to this.
Lt.Kol. Wong Ah Jit, executive director of Squash Rackets
Association adds, “We are lucky to even have our national players here
together all at once, let alone the foreigners”, commenting on the event.
Thierry Lincou, Gregory Gaultier, Ong Beng Hee, Azlan Iskandar,
Wael El Hindi, Bradley Ball, Nicol David and Sharon Wee were all
“sold” to members of the public. Each player had an hour on the all-glass
centre court and an hour on the side walls. For a minimal donation, anyone
can choose who they’d like to play. Games on the centre courts would cost
more, and even then, the slots were all fully taken 3 days before the
event.
Gaultier proved to be the most expensive, raking in a cool MYR 2,000
(approx GBP 300) for a 9-point game. Gregory, who only arrived with
Thierry the afternoon before, showed no signs of jet lag as he still
managed to throw in a few fancy trick shots in this rather expensive game.
Sporting matching racket and shoes, the Frenchman amazed the crowd with
his antics (and skills of course!).
Nicol David and Ong Beng Hee, top players in the country, turn out to be
the biggest hits, having to play most number of games. Beng Hee had the
most interesting opponents, ranging from a local supermodel Soraya Dean,
whom he (naturally and purposely!) kept on court for the longest period of
time, to a one-armed man, who showed true grit, playing his heart out
against the World number 24.
Nicol meanwhile, had mostly men challenge her. Karina Fernandez, an IT
professional who has never been into a squash court prior to this, took
Nicol on after her colleagues had talked her into doing this. She
proclaimed before the game “I’ll embarrass myself for the kids” and I am
sure it was well worth her effort.
It was certainly a delight to see people from all walks of life, some who
has never played any squash before this, doing a good cause and taking the
professionals to court. There were also juniors who took on their much
elder and stronger compatriots in the name of charity. Some had even
travelled more than 5 hours for the opportunity to play such big names.
Thierry,
Gregory, Beng Hee, Azlan, Wael and Bradley might not have found the best
warm up to the Cathay
Pacific Hong Kong Squash Open, but they certainly did something
the squash community proud to help the children. They will however, be
travelling there beaming with confidence as none of them dropped a single
game throughout the entire day!
|
|
Grégory earns his MRY 2,000 |
HAPPY CUSTOMERS: Karina's first
ever game of squash !! |
Protect and Save The Children
Soraya tests Bengy
Aaron challenges El Hindi
Lionel's squash debut |