Eain Yow capitalises on unexpected chance

NAFIIZWAN Adnan’s withdrawal from the Ohana Malaysian Open has presented Ng Eain Yow with a chance to make an impression at the squash tournament which returned after a two-year absence.

Eain Yow, the 2016 world junior champion, was drawn to meet Nafiizwan in the men’s opening round on Wednesday but the second seed withdrew due to an injured knee suffered in an accident on Tuesday night.

Instead, 2017 Sea Games individual gold medallist Eain Yow faced lucky loser Addeen Idrakie Bahtiar and capitalised on his good fortune to win 11-9, 11-13, 1311, 11-2 to advance to a quarterfinal meeting with Egypt’s Mazen Gamal.

“This morning when I turned up for training, my coach said Nafiizwan had pulled out because of an accident but I still did not know whether I had a match to play or not,” said Eain Yow after his match at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil.

“I assumed that I would still have to play someone from the qualifying round but the uncertainty affected me a bit. It was back and forth until it was confirmed I was to play Addeen.”

Should Eain Yow overcome Gamal, who ousted fellow Egyptian Shehab Essam 8-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-7, the 19-year-old Malaysian could meet national champion Ivan Yuen in the semi-finals.

“It’s a shame that Nafiizwan is out but hopefully Ivan and I can still carry the Malaysian flag and win the tournament,” said Eain Yow, who won a main draw match in a US$25,000 tournament for the first time.

“It’s my first main draw win in a tournament this big but it was not the best way to win. Addeen played really well, all credit to him, even though he lost yesterday (in the qualifiers).

“It didn’t affect him and he came out really strong and he wanted to win the match and made it really tough for me. Happy to go through to the quarters.”

A good run at the Malaysian Open will help World No 77 Eain Yow, who is the youngest in the top-80, improve his ranking.

“It will definitely help with my ranking but for now I am focusing on my squash,” he said. “If I improve my squash I will eventually start beating players ranked higher than me and my ranking will go up.

“It would then reflect my true level and today was a step in the right direction.” Devinder Singh