KUALA LUMPUR: Sea Games champion Ng Eain Yow claimed his third career PSA Tour title after winning the Australian Open in Darwin on Saturday.
But former world champion Rachael Grinham denied Malaysia a double by beating national junior S. Sivasangari 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 in the women's final, 12 years after winning the tournament for the only other time.
Eain Yow continued his love affair with Darwin, where he also won the Northern Territory Open in May, with a 13-11, 11-6, 11-9 win over second seed Joshua Larkin in the final.
It was the third time Eain Yow has beaten 71st-ranked Australian Larkin this year, including in the NT Open final where he rallied from two games down for the victory.
World No 65 Eain Yow joins an illustrious list of former world champions who have won the Australian Open including Jahangir Khan, Chris Dittmar, Rodney Martin, Jonathan Power and Ramy Ashour.
"It's always good to come here and play, and not just because I have been winning," said Eain Yow, 19, after receiving his trophy.
"I would like to say a big thank you to my friends and teammates for their support. It has been a great week for me."
Malaysian Open runner-up Eain Yow built on his upset of top seed Rex Hedrick in the semi-finals, when he came back from two games down, by saving a game point to win the opening game against Larkin before taking a firm grip on the second where he never trailed.
The 2016 world junior champion led 6-3 in the third before Larkin levelled it at 6-6 but Eain Yow pulled away to set up two match point opportunities before claiming the title with a forehand winner.
Sivasangari, 18, was bidding to win her fourth consecutive PSA Tour title and become the second Malaysian to win the Australian Open women's crown after Nicol David in 2011 and 2012.
But World No 54 Sivasangari found herself trailing the 36th-ranked Rachael 5-0 in the opening game which proved too far a gap to bridge.
However, Sivasangari had a chance to even the match in the second game but could not capitalise on a 9-7 lead as the 40-year-old Australian Rachael scored four points in a row before taking control of the third game from start to finish.
The defeat ended Sivasangari's winning streak at 14 matches in a run which included title wins at the Beijing Challenge Cup, Malaysian Tour 11th leg and Malaysian Open.