Eain Yow eyes Asian Youth Games target
Ng Eain Yow and R. Yovineshan in the CIMB National Junior Squash Circuit in May this year. Eain Yow is up for the challenge of SRAM's four-gold medal target.
PETALING JAYA: Asian Junior Under-17 champion Ng Eain Yow is aware of the challenging task awaiting him in the nine-day Asian Youth Games (AYG), which will be held in Nanjing, China, from Friday.
Instead of cowering in fear, Eain Yow is actually looking forward to meeting the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia’s (SRAM) four-gold medal target.
The city boy is in the best form of his life – winning the British Junior Open Under-15 title in January before following it up with the National Junior Circuit GP Finals, the Milo All Star and the Asian Juniors.
Still only 15, Eain Yow has matured remarkably fast and is certainly one of the brightest young talents in the country.
And Eain Yow, who is seeded joint third-fourth with Hong Kong's Yuen Tsun Hei for the AYG, can’t wait to lock horns with some of the top juniors in Asia.
“It’ll definitely be tougher than the Asian Juniors because there are several players from the older age groups who will be competing this time,” said Eain Yow.
“The two most dangerous players in my half of the draw are India’s Kush Kumar and Pakistan’s Ahmad Israr.
“I’ve not played against Kush because he’s always in the older age group. Israr has beaten me once – in the semi-finals of the British Juniors last year.
“But I lost to him in five sets ... it was a really close fight. I haven’t faced him since but I’d like to believe that I too have improved since that loss.
“The challenge now is to get back my game. I’m a little rusty as I’ve been busy with my Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) trials a few weeks back. The trials are over now and I’m confident I can return to top form when the tournament begins.”
Eain Yow has been give a first round bye at the AYG and should meet Iraq’s Al-sultani Abdullah in the second round.
A win will see him face Israr in the quarter-finals.
He is expected to take on top seed Kush in the last four.
Besides Eain Yow, the other Malaysian in the individual event is second seed Mohd Syafiq Kamal. A third Malaysian, 17-year-old Darren Chan, will only compete in the team event.
The girls will be represented by Rachel Arnold, Vanessa Raj and Celine Yeap.
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