Malaysia complete grand double in Nanjing

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia completed a grand double by winning the boys’ and girls’ squash team gold medals at the Asian Youth Games (AYG) in Nanjing, China.

The girls got the ball rolling by beating Hong Kong 2-0 before the boys staged an amazing comeback to edge India 2-1 for both gold medals yesterday.

It was Malaysia’s fourth gold medal at the AYG and the third to be contributed by squash, following Vanessa Raj’s feat in the individual event earlier this week.

Yesterday’s wins were also Rachel Arnold and Mohd Syafiq Kamal’s way of redeeming themselves as they contributed vital points against their opponents.

The 17-year-old Rachel, who lost in the quarter-finals of the individual event, was on song to dispose of Choi Uen Shan 5-11, 11-7, 13-11, 12-10.

Boosted by Rachel’s win, Vanessa then took to the court to take on Pansy Chan, who she beat in the individual final.

The Penangite was in her element again, seeing off Pansy 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3 for the second time in a week to seal the girls’ team gold medal.

The boys got off to an unexpected loss when Asian Junior Under-17 champion Ng Eain Yow, who was suffering from tight shins, blew a two-set lead to go down 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 5-11 to Vijay Meena.

That left Syafiq needing to beat individual champion Kush Kumar to give Malaysia a fighting chance.

And the Kelantan player was in inspired mood as he avenged his defeat by Kush in the individual final by beating the top-ranked Indian 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-6 to force the match into a deciding rubber.

Up stepped pint-sized Darren Chan to show that Malaysia finally had strength in depth as he packed off Yogesh Dhingra Madhav 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-1 for a glorious win.

National junior coach Andrew Cross was full of praise for his charges, describing the boys’ comeback as “amazing”.

“We won! That was an amazing performance by the boys. Everyone, including the girls, were in top form today and they all played well. It’s an incredible day for the juniors,” said Cross.