Nafiizwan hopes to bring spirit of Gold Coast to Indonesia

KUALA LUMPUR: National No. 1 Nafiizwan Adnan hopes to rise to occasion like what he did in the Commonwealth Games to win his first individual squash medal in the Indonesia Asian Games.

At the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April, the Terengganu player defied the odds to become the first Malaysian men player to win a bronze in the individual event.

Nafiizwan stunned three-time world champion Nick Matthew of England in the quarter-finals. And in the playoff for the bronze, Nafiizwan beat Joel Makin of Wales.

The 32-year-old who will be featuring in his third Asiad hopes to deliver the individual medal in Indonesia.

“I played exceptionally well in the Commonwealth Games to win Malaysia’s first ever men’s individual medal ... and I want to repeat the feat in the Asian Games.

“It will be tough but nothing is impossible to achieve. This will be my last Asian Games and I hope to nail it this time.

“I also to want to help Malaysia win a medal in the team event,” said Nafiizwan, who has won two silver medals in the team events in Guangzhou in 2010 and Incheon in 2014.

He only played in the individual event once in Incheon and lost to eventual champion Abdullah Al-Muzayen of Kuwait in the quarter-finals.

Nafiizwan is ranked 41 in the world and would be seeded joint fifth-eighth for the Asian Games.

Nafiizwan said the seeding is not important to him.

“What’s important is to play consistently well and get the better of the higher-ranked players in the Games.

“I have beaten three-time world champion Nick and I believe that I can do it again in Jakarta,” said Nafiizwan.

World No. 12 Saurav Ghosal of India will be the top seed. Hong Kong’s Max Lee (No. 19) and Leo Au (No. 20) will be seeded second and joint third-fourth respectively.

World No. 33 Abdulla Al-Tamimi of Qatar, who won the Malaysian Open title last week, will be seeded joint third-fourth seed.

Nafiizwan said he has been sparring with Abdulla, Joel Makin and Lucas Serme of France at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil for the last two weeks prepare for the Asian Games.

“I will decide after the Asian Games whether to continue playing for the country or to retire,” said Nafiizwan.