Chance for young squash players to make the cut for world meet

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will be hunting for additional players to join top duo Ng Eain Yow (pic)and S. Sivasangari at the World Championships in Cairo next month through the Asian qualifying event at the Jalan Duta courts from April 18-21.

The Professional Squash Association (PSA), in helping more players around the globe to qualify for the major event, have introduced continental qualifying events this year where the champions of the men’s and women’s categories will advance to the tournament proper in Cairo from May 9-18.

A draw of 16 in both men’s and women’s events will see a total of 11 Malaysians battling for the two spots.

World No. 16 Ng Eain Yow is the only men’s player to have qualified for the World Championships while world No. 13 Sivasangari will be accompanied by Rachel Arnold (No. 28), Aifa Azman (No. 34) and Aira Azman (No. 41) for the meet.

Noor Ainaa Amaani Ampandi, ranked No. 58, is also expected to get the nod as players like world No. 7 Georgina Kennedy of England may miss the world meet due to an Achilles tendon surgery.

Addeen Idrakie, Syafiq Kamal and Darren Rahul are expected to have a fighting chance in the men’s qualifying event while Chan Yiwen, K. Sehveetrraa and U. Thanusaa are set to battle for the women’s slot.

National head coach Ajaz Azmat said men’s top seed Ryunosuke Tsukue of Japan will pose the strongest threat for the Malaysians this weekend.

“Our main players have already made it to the main draw and we hope to get at least another spot through the qualifiers this week,” said Ajaz.

“Addeen and others need to be prepared for a tough battle as Tsukue is a very good player.

“Yiwen, Sehveetrraa and Thanusaa have a fighting chance to increase our participation in the women’s event at the World Championships.”

Ong Sai Hung, Bryan Lim and Haris Zhafri Abdul Harif are the other Malaysians in the main draw while Goh Zhi Xuan and Yu Ji will also compete in the women’s event.

Malaysia had their biggest representation at the World Championships where 13 players competed in the major event in Chicago last year.