Eain Yow hits glory trail again
WORLD junior champion Ng Eain Yow lifted the second PSA Tour title of his young career after coming back from two games down in the final at the Northern Territory Open in Darwin yesterday.
Eain Yow's 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 116 win over third seeded Australian Joshua Larkin ranks as his biggest tournament win as the NT Open carried US$10,000 (RM43,475) in total prize money compared to the US$5,000 offered in his maiden title win at the Malaysian Tour leg at the Royal Lake Club last year.
Ranked 111th in the world, Eain Yow was stretched to five games for a second time in the tournament but battled back for a sweet victory over World No 88 Larkin.
"I was happy to come back from 2-0 down in the final and to win it five games," said Eain Yow, 19. "Overall it has been a great tournament for me. To win it is just awesome."
Fourth seed Eain Yow was made to work hard in the second round as well by 43-year-old Australian journeyman Mike Corren before prevailing in five games 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-8.
Eain Yow then got past Matthew Hopkin of Australia 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Hong Kong's Lau Tsz Kwan 11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 11-3 to reach the final.
National teammate Addeen Idrakie Bahtiar also did well to reach the semi-finals after upsetting second seed Evan Williams of New Zealand 8-11, 16-14, 12-10, 11-8 in the quarter-finals.
But sixth-seeded Addeen, who downed national junior Farez Izwan Mukhtar 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 in the second round, was ousted 11-4, 11-8, 12-10 by Larkin in the last-four.
Addeen's semi-final appearance was his third this year after the Hampshire Open in England and the Malaysian Tour leg in Negri Sembilan, though both those tournaments were US$5,000 events.
Meanwhile, national No 1 Nafiizwan Adnan has been drawn to meet Mexican Mauricio Sanchez de la Paz in the first qualifying round of the Bellevue Squash Classic in Washington state yesterday.
Should he advance, Nafiizwan will face either Peru's Diego Elias or Scotland's Alan Clyne for a place in the 16-man main draw of the US$150,000 tournament. Devinder Singh