Former American player Gordon tips Eain Yow as ‘one to watch’

PETALING JAYA: A second round defeat ended Ng Eain Yow’s (pic) US Open campaign, but the national squash player’s performance left former American professional Christopher Gordon convinced that bigger things lie ahead.

The Malaysian world No. 17 earned Gordon’s praise after pushing world No. 3 Diego Elias of Peru through three closely contested sets before falling 12-10, 8-11, 9-11, 2-11 at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia on Monday.

“I think he is going to be one to watch over the next 18 months,” said Gordon, who now commentates for SquashTV.

The 40-year-old, who retired last month after competing in a record-breaking 332 Professional Squash Association (PSA) events, believes Eain Yow can take encouragement from how he challenged one of the sport’s leading players.

“I wouldn’t really worry too much about how it got away from him (at the end), because the first three games were incredible.

“I’d rather see that level of push early on. He can start figuring out the rest down the road with his coaching staff.”

It was the first time in three career meetings that Eain Yow, 28, had taken a game off former world No. 1 Elias, offering a promising sign of his ability to trouble the tour’s elite.

Eain Yow, Malaysia’s highest-ranked male player, had previously helped the national side capture the men’s team gold at last month’s Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

He also successfully defended his individual title, securing a place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash will make its debut.

Gordon believes that qualification is the ace up Eain Yow’s sleeve.

“He’s already sewn up that Olympic spot, the first male Olympian for squash. So in some ways, the pressure is off,” he said.

“Now he’s playing with house money which allows him to relax and start trying to attack those top boys to take things to the next level.”

For Gordon, the performance against Elias provided a useful measure of Eain Yow’s progress against a player expected to feature prominently in Los Angeles.

“Diego is obviously a big candidate to make it into the Olympics. He’s also challenging for the world No. 1,” he said.

“So to see (Eain) Yow find a way to make inroads like he did, it puts him in good stead for pretty much everyone else on the tour.”

Eain Yow will next flex his racquet skills at the China Open from Nov 17-22.

Meanwhile, world No. 4 S. Sivasangari is the only Malaysian remaining in the US Open. She faces a tough quarter-final match against world No. 1 Amina Orfi today.