Squash the demon!

Nicol and Co won’t repeat Asiad mistakes at world team meet

KUALA LUMPUR: Once bitten twice shy. The Malaysian women’s squash team have learned their lesson in the Asian Games in Jakarta last month and they don’t want to make the same mistakes in the world team championships which begins in Dalian, China, tomorrow.

The team, led by eight-time world champion Nicol David (pic), were the defending champions in the Asiad but were stunned 0-2 by India in the semi-finals.

National No. 3 Low Wee Wern said they have learned a bitter lesson in the Asian Games.

“We do not want to make the same mistakes in the world team championships,” said Wee Wern.

Besides Nicol and Wee Wern, the other members of the Malaysian team are S. Sivasangari, who won a silver medal in the individual event, and Aifa Azman.

A total of 16 teams will feature in the championships and fourth seed Malaysia are drawn in Group D with fifth seed Hong Kong, South Africa and Switzerland.

Defending champions and top seed Egypt, Canada, Australia and Germany are drawn in Group A while Group B comprises second seed England, New Zealand, Japan and Finland.

Third seed United States, France, India and China are drawn in Group C.

Wee Wern added that they would face a strong challenge from Hong Kong, who won the Asian Games gold medal.

“They will be our main rival in the group. We also cannot take any team lightly in our group.

“We will take it one match at a time and our target is to top the group to qualify for the quarter-finals.

“We are seeded fourth and we want to live up to it,” said Wee Wern, who will be featuring in her third world team championships.

Wee Wern was a member of the Malaysian team that finished a remarkable second to eventual champions England in the team championships in Niagara Lake, Canada, in 2014.

The 28-year-old Wee Wern received an extra boost ahead of the team championships after she rose in the world rankings by 14 rungs from 70th to 56th early this month.

“It’s definitely a boost for me to improve my world rankings and this will give me the extra motivation to do well in the world team championships.

“We have a good team and I’m optimistic that we can deliver in the team championships,” said Wee Wern.

In the last team championships in Paris in 2016, Wee Wern did not play as she was down with injury and Malaysia finished sixth.