Eain Yow downs Hanson to make main draw of world meet

PETALING JAYA: Youngster Ng Eain Yow added another feather to his cap when he made the main draw of the World Squash Championships in Manchester, England.

The 2016 world junior champion beat Chris Hanson of the United States 11-6, 11-6, 11-1 in the final round of qualifying on Saturday.

The double SEA Games gold medallist will take on seventh seed Tarek Momen of Egypt in the first round of the main draw.

Eain Yow, who is now ranked a career- high 54th, defeated Switzerland’s Dmitri Steinmann 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 in the first round of qualifying on Friday.

Eain Yow’s success ensures a Malaysian representative in the 64-player field for the men’s main draw after the withdrawals of Nafiizwan Adnan and Ivan Yuen.

Rachel Arnold failed in her bid to reach the main draw after she fell 6-11, 8-11, 3-11 to Egyptian Hania El Hammamy in the first round of qualifying, leaving Nicol David as the only representative in the women’s competition.

Nicol, the eight-time world champion, faces a tricky firstround match against England’s former world No. 2 Jenny Duncalf today.

If Nicol clears her first-round hurdle, she is likely to meet Hong Kong’s Annie Au. The Hong Kong player shocked Nicol at the US Open in October.

However, Nicol avenged her defeat to Annie at the Hong Kong Open recently.

The sixth-seeded Malaysian squash icon has failed to reach the last eight in the last two editions of the world meet since picking up her eighth world title, beating Raneem El Welily of Egypt in 2014.

Raneem and 2013 world champion Laura Massaro of England, seeded second and fourth respectively, stand in Nicol’s path to the final.