He’ll take it to the Max to be Asia’s best again
KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong player Max Lee (pic) will want to re-establish himself as the best player in the continent at the Asian Individual Championships.
The 31-year-old is the defending champion but at the Asian Games in Indonesia last September, he came in second behind his teammate Leo Au.
Max is seeded third while his teammates Yip Tsz Fung and Leo Au are seeded second and fourth respectively. India’s Saurav Ghosal is the top seed.
“Even though I’m the defending champion here but that was two years ago and since then there has been a lot of changes like Leo winning the Asian Games title,” said Max.
“Also now I’m not seeded first like back then and Saurav is the favourite here, so it has been very unpredictable the squash here in Asia the last few years and I can’t take anything for granted.”
“And even though it was Leo who won the Asian Games, for me it doesn’t reflect much oh how things will pan out here as every tournament is a fresh and different one.”
Max is drawn in the same half as Saurav and the two are slated to match-up with each other in the semi-finals.
It will be a rematch of the 2013 final which saw Max come back from a set down to win in four with a score of 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7.
“I still have a couple more games before I can meet in the semi-final, so I’m not thinking of Saurav just yet because as I’ve said it can be very unpredictable.
“So now I’m just focus on working hard in every game, to make sure I stay injury free and if I can do that bring out my best squash.”
“Also as I’m representing Hong Kong I have to be really positive and also be a good teammate and help each other.”
Max is well on his way to meet with Saurav after he defeated Malaysia’s own Ong Sai Hung 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 in the second round at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil here yesterday.
“It was a very close match with Ong because he knows the court here well because he trains here everyday and he took advantage of it.”
“So it was quite close and I’m glad I managed to win it.”