National Men's Squash Team Deliver Malaysia's Ninth Gold

NAGOYA, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's men's squash team clinched the country's ninth gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games after defeating Pakistan 2-0 in the final at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena earlier today.

The victory saw Malaysia reclaim the men's team gold, having last won it at the 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia. At the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, the national squad could only manage bronze.

It was a double gold for the national squash camp today, as the women's squad also defended their title with a 2-1 win over Hong Kong, bringing squash's contribution to the national contingent at this edition to four gold medals.

In the final earlier, C. Ameeshenraj delivered Malaysia's first point, recovering from a first-set loss to defeat Nasir Iqbal 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4.

The second point came through Ng Eain Yow, who prevailed in a hard-fought match to see off Noor Zaman 11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5, sealing victory for the national squad.

Meanwhile, last Sunday, Eain Yow and S. Sivasangari delivered gold medals in the men's and women's individual events respectively.

Speaking after the match, Eain Yow described the victory as especially meaningful, given the effort required to overcome his opponent, including a comeback from a 1-2 deficit.

"Overall, I'm happy, I'm really, really happy. I’m also a bit speechless at the moment because I had to really fight hard and dig very deep. My opponent was playing really well. I don't think I've been challenged like that in the last two weeks.

"I really wanted to deliver the fourth gold. I'm so, so happy to win the fourth and also the ninth medal for Malaysia," he said.

Commenting on the national men's team's success in clinching the team gold after last winning it at the 2018 edition, Eain Yow said the achievement also settled some "unfinished business" for him. 

"2018 was my debut, and I delivered the winning point back then. So, it was a big, big experience. But the last edition, I think I let my team down a little bit.

“I was the number one player, and I just lost out to the Indian player. "So, I had some unfinished business this time around," he said.

-- BERNAMA