A filepic of Nicol David (left) and Low Wee Wern at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. Nicol won the gold while Wee Wern finished with a bronze.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia should win at least two gold medals in squash at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, from Sept 19-Oct 4.
One of them should come from world No. 1 and three-time Asiad gold medallist Nicol David, who has again been top seeded in the women’s individual event.
Based on the draw released on Tuesday, Nicol’s main challenge should come from India’s world No. 12 Dipika Pallikal in the semi-finals.
The challenge will be on national No. 2 and the tournament’s second seed Low Wee Wern to join Nicol in the final.
Wee Wern, however, will have to be wary of the threat posed by the likes of Hong Kong’s Annie Au and Joey Chan.
The second gold should come from the women’s team.
The quartet of Nicol, Wee Wern, Delia Arnold and Vanessa Raj are heavy favourites to defend the team gold, with only Hong Kong and India likely to be serious threats.
The Malaysian women are in Group A with Japan and hosts South Korea. Second seeds Hong Kong will be eager to top Group B ahead of India, Pakistan and China in order to avoid Malaysia in the semi-finals.
Although Mohd Azlan Iskandar won the men’s individual gold in Guangzhou four years ago, Malaysia can forget about achieving the same feat this time.
National No. 1 Ong Beng Hee has been given the toughest possible draw, with top seed Saurav Ghosal of India, Pakistan’s Farhan Mehboob and Hong Kong’s Leo Au all in his half.
National No. 2 Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan is in the bottom half and should meet second seed Max Lee of Hong Kong in the last four.
In the team event, the Malaysian men’s quartet, which includes Ivan Yuen and Azlan, are in Group B with India, Japan, Jordan and China. Top seeds Pakistan are in Group A with Kuwait, Hong Kong, South Korea and Qatar.
“The seedings are fair and based on the professional rankings ... on paper, we can expect at least two golds,” said Squash Association of Malaysia (SRAM) director of coaching Allan Soyza.
“It’s also a pretty straightforward draw for the women’s team. The men, however, need to get past a strong India side so as to avoid Pakistan before the final. It’s very much 50-50 for our men.”
The national squash players will leave for Incheon on Tuesday.
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