PETALING JAYA: The German Open win should be the wind in Ng Eain Yow’s sails for future tournaments.
On Sunday, the 26-year-old showed perseverance in Hamburg to capture his first Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour title after dismantling Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann 12-10, 11-8, 10-12, 11-3 in 66 minutes.
The achievement comes almost a year after his last tournament victory at the lower-ranked Irish Open last April.
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National head coach Ajaz Azmat congratulated Eain Yow on his career milestone and said it should motivate him to aim higher in bigger tournaments.
Stellar feat: Ng Eain Yow beat Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann 12-10, 11-8, 10-12, 11-3 in 66 minutes. — PSA
“This should be the confidence booster as he heads for all his future tournaments,” said Ajaz.
Eain Yow’s immediate bigger challenge is the El Gouna Open, a PSA platinum level event, from April 19-26 in Egypt.
He will face Mexico’s Cesar Salazar in the opening round at El Gouna, a player whom he had beaten once at the Pittsburg Open last year.
Ajaz said Eain Yow showed fortitude in his win.
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“Eain Yow’s loss in the quarter-finals of the Squash in the Land event in Cleveland last month was not easy for him to accept, but his mental strength has kept him pushing hard,” said Ajaz.
“But he worked hard mentally and physically to regain his confidence and now, he has the result to show,” he said.
Eain Yow said he can finally breathe a sigh of relief as he had crashed out in the early rounds of all his previous tournaments this year.
“It was a big relief to get through today, I think I played amazing all week. So I was happy to pull through,” he said.
Eain Yow blazed through the field on his way to the final fixture, the toughest challenge coming in the semi-finals when he faced Joel Makin of Wales.
The world No. 22 had lost all six previous encounters against the Welshman but found it within himself to topple Makin, who was also the tournament’s top seed.
But the final against Steinmann came with added pressure for Eain Yow, even though he had previously defeated the Swiss player during the World Championships in 2017.
“The final is always different because there’s always some added pressure. There were different people messaging me all day about my win on Saturday,” said Eain Yow.
“For me, I knew the final was going to be tough, especially against Steinmann.
“He was just firing it from everywhere and he wasn’t missing much, so I had to dig deep. I kept running, kept getting all the balls back, and stuck to my game plan.
“I think I did that, and I’m just happy to get the title this week,” he said.
It was his seventh career title but the most precious one.
In the women’s category, England’s Georgina Kennedy defeated top seed Nele Gilis of Belgium 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 14-12 to claim her first title of the season.
