PETALING JAYA, Nov 15 (Bernama) -- National men’s squash player Ng Eain Yow outlasted Spain's Bernat Jaume 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 to power his way into the semi-finals of the Malaysia Squash Cup 2024 in Mutiara Damansara here today.
Playing in the glass court at The Curve Mall, the second-seeded Eain Yow lived up to expectations at the bronze-level tournament by taking 48 minutes to send the eighth-seeded Jaume packing in the last eight.
World number 14 Eain Yow said he felt more ‘relaxed’ in today’s game as compared to yesterday’s 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 second-round victory over American Shahjahan Khan.
“I think today I worked on the things I wanted to and my finishing was better compared to yesterday.
“I just felt really, really comfortable and confident today, even though the result is quite close,” he told reporters in a post-match interview.
Up next for Eain Yow is India’s Abhay Singh, who denied his compatriot Velavan Senthilkumar a place in the semi-finals with a 12-14, 11-5, 12-10, 11-8 win in 71 minutes.
The 26-year-old Eain Yow is confident he can reach the final, provided "I play with more zest against the unseeded Abhay”.
Meanwhile, national woman player and third seed Rachel Arnold bounced back from a first-set loss to see off fifth-seeded Katie Malliff of England 3-11, 11-2, 13-11, 13-11 to advance to the semi-finals.
“I started slowly in the opening set, maybe I was not ready (to play) but when I began to increase the pace, my game was better,” said world number 20 Rachel.
Her semi-final opponent will be second-seeded Egyptian Amina Orfi, who ousted her compatriot Kenzy Ayman 11-6, 11-2, 11-5.
Knowing that Amina loves playing a fast-paced game, the 28-year-old Rachel plans to slow things down and focus on engaging in longer rallies when they meet tomorrow.
The second edition of the Malaysia Squash Cup, which ends on Sunday (Nov 17), offers a total prize pool of US$64,000 (about RM286,000) for each of the men’s and women’s categories.
-- BERNAMA
