Way to go, Sanjay

Malaysian through to quarter-finals after beating world No. 57 Creed

KUALA LUMPUR: Sanjay Singh Chal created the upset of the day when he sent seventh seed Peter Creed of Wales packing at the Malaysian Open squash championships.

The 23-year-old Malaysian showed no signs of fatigue as he cruised to an 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 win over two-time PSA Tour champion and world No. 57 Creed 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 in the men’s first round at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Earlier, world No. 159 Sanjay had to clear a gruelling two-match qualifying rounds to make the main draw.

Sanjay, a gold medallist at the 2015 Singapore SEA Games, was delighted to reach his first quarter-finals of a Professional Squash Association (PSA) 25-rated tournament.

“I boosted my confidence tremendously by winning two tough qualifying matches. Against Creed, I was the underdog. I just fought point by point.

“Making the last eight is going to improve my ranking. Hopefully I can move forward from now on,” said Sanjay, who will face compatriot Ivan Yuen for a place in the semi-finals.

Ivan, the fourth seed, easily outplayed Jaymie Haycocks of England 11-4, 11-9, 11-6.

Ng Eain Yow is the third Malaysian in the last eight. The 2016 world junior champion ousted compatriot and lucky loser Addeen Idrakie 11-9, 11-13, 13-11, 11-2.

Eain Yow was supposed to face Nafiizwan Adnan but the national No. 1 and second seed had to pull out after he was involved in a minor motorcycle accident on Tuesday night.

“Nafiizwan’s withdrawal didn’t make my path any easier. Addeen gave me a good fight and pushed me to the limit,” said Eain Yow, a double gold medallist at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August.

In the women’s competition, Aifa Azman upset India’s Sachika Ingale of India 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 to join compatriots S. Sivasangari and Rachel Arnold in the last eight.