PETALING JAYA: Squash player Wee Ming Hock (pic) overcame two hurdles within a short period of time to storm into the men’s final of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) WSF Satellite tournament in Ipoh yesterday.
The 22-year-old Ming Hock lived up to his reputation as the top seed by outplaying compatriot M. Nickhileswar 11-3, 11-8, 1-11, 11-8 in the quarter-finals to set up a meeting with another Malaysian S. Sunil Kumar in the last four.
Just five hours later, Ming Hock returned to the court and delivered his A-game to beat Sunil 11-5, 8-11, 11-3, 11-3 in the semi-finals at the Squash MBI Ipoh yesterday.
Impatience got the better of Ming Hock, which led to him losing the second set to Sunil.
Ming Hock, however, was glad that he could recover his momentum by adjusting his mindset.
“I was a bit too excited in the second set and hurriedly played most of the balls to the front and ended up making too many mistakes,” said Ming Hock.
“I then changed my approach to placing the ball nicely, away from my opponent (Sunil) which made him move a lot and that’s where I gained my confidence from.
“It was a tough match and it feels good to win.”
Standing in his way of winning his third Satellite title is Lee Min-woo of South Korea, who defeated second seed Amir Amirul Azhar 11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 11-4 in another semi-finals match.
It will be their first meeting and Ming Hock is pumped up to put up a good fight as he set his sights on emerging victorious.
“This is my fourth Satellite final... I feel positive and motivated to play in the final tomorrow (today),” said Ming Hock.
“I’m still fresh mentally, but I will just focus on recovery and have a good rest to be prepared for the tomorrow’s (today’s) match.”
Meanwhile, the women’s category was not contested due to low number of participation.
RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)
Quarter-finals
Men: Wee Ming Hock bt M. Nickhileswar 11-3, 11-8, 1-11, 11-8; S. Sunil Kumar bt Tuwin Nilakshana Herath (Sri) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4; Amir Amirul Azhar bt Erwin Kros Christopher 11-5, 11-9, 11-6; Lee Min-woo (Kor) bt Eugene Oon 11-6, 11-4, 11-8.
Semi-finals
Men: Wee Ming Hock bt S. Sunil Kumar 11-5, 8-11, 11-3, 11-3; Lee Min-woo (Kor) bt Amir Amirul Azhar 11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 11-4.
