Mohd Farez storms into last eight with surprise win
KUALA LUMPUR: Youngster Mohd Farez Izwan could hardly hide his delight after he stormed into the quarter-finals of the Ohana National Squash Championships.
The 18-year-old Farez, who has been struggling lately, defeated joint third-fourth seed Elvinn Keo 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 in the first round at the National Squash Centre, Bukit Jalil yesterday.
The 25-minute win was certainly a huge surprise for Farez especially since he had played poorly during the World Junior Championships in August and the Asian Junior Championships in September.
“This is definitely one of my best performance this year as I was poor during the world juniors and Asian Juniors,” said the Sabahan.
“But I’ve been switched to train under (Ong) Beng Hee for the past month and I’ve definitely shown some improvements, especially in my technique.
“And I managed to do everything right today. My shots were going in and I managed to play at a high intensity.
Farez’s reward is a clash with training partner and reigning world junior champion Ng Eain Yow in the last eight.
Eain Yow, who is seeded joint fifth-eighth, was hardly troubled as he defeated Ryan Pasqual 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 in 29 minutes.
Another youngster – 20 year-old Mohd Syafiq Kamal of Kelantan – also delivered an upset by beating last year’s finalist Mohd Asyraf Azan 13-11, 11-4, 11-3.
The world No. 129 will take on top seed and defending champion Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan, who defeated Ng Jo Wen 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, for a place in the semi-finals.
There were no upsets in the women’s event with top seed Delia Arnold and second seed Low Wee Wern both breezing into the quarter-finals.