Malaysian challenge in Doha squashed early

PETALING JAYA: National squash players Ivan Yuen and Ng Eain Yow were simply no match for their opponents as they fell out in the opening round of the Men’s World Championship in Doha, Qatar.

However, both players did not go down without a fight. World No. 44 Ivan Yuen applied a lot of pressure on world No. 7 Diego Elias, but the Peruvian showed his quality to prevail in straight sets 11-8,11-9,14-12.

It was nevertheless a commendable fight from Ivan who fought till the very end, forcing Diego to play three match points in the final game before sealing the win.

World No. 32 Eain Yow also gave world No. 13 Fares Dessouky of Egypt a tough challenge before going down 11-6,9-11,11-8,11-5 in 58 minutes.

After losing the first game, Eain Yow fought back to regain parity in the second, but the Egyptian was better in the next two games. With the exit of Ivan and Eain Yow, Malaysia’s challenge at the world meet is over.

The duo will now shift their focus to the Men’s World Team Championships in Washington DC, the United States from Dec 15-21.

(Matches involving Malaysians only)Diego Elias (Per) bt Ivan Yuen 11-8,11-9,14-12; Fares Dessouky (Egy) bt Ng Eain Yow 11-6,9-11,11-8,11-5.