Look Ma, a silver lining with Jess in mixed doubles
KUCHING: Sarawak’s fortunes in Sukma squash ended with one gold (men’s doubles) and a silver lining which came yesterday from the mixed doubles fi nal when Jess Tay Sin Kiong and Ma Si Yi lost 0-2 (3-11, 10-11) to ( WPKL) Federal Territory’s Kwan Ka Junn and Andrea Lee Jia Qi at the Squash Centre yesterday.
“We are a bit disappointed because we came so far to the fi nal and upset many of the higher seeds along the way but there were too many errors in our last game,” Jess conceded.
Earlier, the sixth-seeded pair of Jess-Ma upset third seeds Mohd Farez Izwan and Lai Wei Li of Sabah in the quarterfi nals.
Then once more against all odds, Jess and Ma turned the tables on second seeded Darren Rahul Pragasam- Zoe Foo Yuk Han of Negeri Sembilan in the semifi nals.
“We are grateful that we gained a lot of experience and as for me personally, I have never played in the mixed doubles before,” said Jess candidly.
The Sarawak pair also found it gratifying to play against the much-vaunted FT pair, who are clearly vastly experienced.
Commenting on their chemistry on court, 16-year- old Ma called it a good experience to play with 20year- old Jess Tay. Ma, who is from Miri said, “He always encouraged me and was supporting me all the way.”
Former national coach Allan Soyza, who was brought in to train the players for a very limited period of time pre- Sukma, opined that Tay and Ma were not relaxed enough but still delivered their best.
He said, “WPKL ( FT) played absolutely well while our players were a bit tense and over- excited. Overall, it was still a good run for them to reach the fi nal round.”
The bronze medal went to Negeri Sembilan’s Zoe Foo Yuk HanDarren Rahul Pragasam Desmond Pragasan and Terengganu’s Nurina Mohd Najib- Danial Nurhaqiem Shahrul Izham.
Sarawak’s only gold in squash thus came from the men’s double when Jess and Marcus Sim turned giant-killer to stop fancied FT’s Andrew Lee and Shyan Kwan.
So Sarawak’s squash verdict in Sukma XVIII stands at one gold and one silver. At the last Sukma in Perlis 2014, the state won one gold in men’s doubles and one bronze in mixed doubles. — by Patricia Hului