Beng Hee: Our men have fallen behind Hong Kong

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has now fallen behind Hong Kong in men’s squash.

At the former British colony last week, national No. 1 Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan made it through the qualifiers as Ivan Yuen fell at the final qualifying round.

Nafiizwan however failed to get past his first round going down to Egypt’s Mazen Hesham.

In contrast, Hong Kong’s Max Lee enjoyed a superb week. The world No. 18 stunned several higher ranked players en route to reaching the semi-finals.

The country’s No. 3 Yip Tsz Fung, shocked world No. 3 Miguel Angel Rodriguez of Colombia – his biggest career scalp – in the opening round.

National coach Ong Beng Hee believes the Malaysians need to play catch-up with their Hong Kong counterparts fast.

“It’s a fact that they have overtaken us ... their top three Max, Leo Au and Tsz Fung are all very good,” said Beng Hee.

“We will struggle against them at the next Asian Games. Ivan, Mohd Addeen Idrakie, Sanjay Singh Chal and Ng Eain Yow need to buck up.

“We must at least be on par with Hong Kong and that’s why Ivan was sent there to train for a week.”

Beng Hee is now focused at guiding Malaysia to a mixed team gold medal at the World University Squash Championships which will be held from Sept 5-11 at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil.

Besides Ivan, Addeen and Sanjay, the other members of the team are world No. 31 Low Wee Wern and 19-year-old Nazihah Hanis.

Hong Kong, with 22-year-old Tsz Fung leading the challenge, will be the favourites for the team title with Egypt and Britain providing a strong threat.

“It’s a two-men and one-woman match format, so we need Wee Wern and Ivan to deliver the points.

“They are our most experienced players and we need them to step up to the plate,” added Beng Hee.