SQUASH: Sparks set to fly in Ivan-Beng Hee clash
THERE is more than just a place in the second round of the Australian Open at stake today when Ivan Yuen takes on national No 2 Ong Beng Hee in Canberra.
A changing of the guard could be witnessed when the two Malaysians meet for the second time in a PSA Tour tournament after Ivan ran Beng Hee close in five games in Chennai two years ago in their first meeting.
At 32, Beng Hee is 10 years older than Ivan, who only just failed to emulate the former as world junior champion when he lost in the 2010 final.
Even with age catching up, Beng Hee still won the Motor City Open in January against a top-class field and he is not quite ready to give way to young upstarts just yet.
"It is unlucky we are playing each other in the first round here but I guess that is the luck of the draw. It will be a good test for me to see how well I do," said Beng Hee in a text message yesterday.
Aside from winning in Detroit, Beng Hee reached the Kuala Lumpur Open semi-finals but was a first-round casualty in four other tournaments including his last outing in May at the British Open.
The former World No 7 now ranked 22nd used the last three months to work on the technical aspects of his game to compensate for a decline in speed.
"My fitness is very good but let me play tomorrow (today) then I'll let you know," joked Beng Hee, who is seeded fifth in the tournament.
"Actually, I went to UK and worked hard on the technical part of my game so I can avoid running too much on court."
Ivan reached the final of the Hibiscus Gardens Open in his last visit to Australia in February and a meeting with Egypt's World No 67 Amr Khaled Khalifa awaits the winner.
Asian champion Nafiizwan Adnan should progress to the next round as he faces qualifier Gonzalo Miranda of Argentina tomorrow but Kamran Khan and Asyraf Azan meet higher-ranked opposition in third seed Tom Richards of England and Australian Ryan Cuskelly respectively today.
The women's tournament only starts on Wednesday when World No 1 Nicol David opens the defence of her title against a qualifier.
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