MALAYSIAN squash is basking in the feel-good factor after a largely second-string national men and women’s teams made a clean sweep by claiming all four gold medals at stake at the recent Philippines Sea Games.
Now, it’s time for the first-choice squash players to end the year on a high at the Men’s World Team Championships, which begins in Washington tomorrow.
And that responsibility lies on the shoulders of national No 1 Ng Eain Yow, Ivan Yuen, Syafiq Kamal and Addeen Idrakie, who is fresh off a two-gold haul in Manila.
“We enjoyed a good run at the Sea Games. Now, the key is to keep the good vibes going at the world teams,” said national assistant head coach Andrew Cross.
“The boys have been training pretty hard for this event and their results have picked up as well.
“I’d say we are in a better place now in terms of performance compared to where we were at the start of the year. I’m confident the players will support each other along the way.”
Cross is keeping his fingers crossed for the team to make a top-eight finish in order to improve on the fairly disappointing 12th placing in France two years ago.
But it won’t be easy as Malaysia are only seeded 10th this year.
They’ve also been handed a tricky group stage draw as they are pitted against third seeds France, South Korea and hosts USA in Group C.
France certainly looks a class above as they have Gregoire Marche (World No 15), Mathieu Castagnet (No 26) and Baptiste Masotti (No 45) as their top three players.
The French also have former World No 1 and 2015 world champion Gregory Gaultier, who is making a comeback after a 14-month injury layoff, as their fourth-ranked player.
“We’ve got a fair seeding as there are a lot of good teams and the top four or five teams are probably ahead of everyone else,” mused Cross.
“The pressure is definitely there. It’s going to be down to who plays better on the day. France are, of course, very tough but I wouldn’t discount the Koreans either.
“The Americans will be tough opponents on home ground. They’ve got a good team and a very strong No 3 in Andrew Douglas.
“They also beat us two years ago, so to beat them this time is definitely our top priority if we want to get out of the group stages” concluded the Englishman.
The national team, who arrived in Washington yesterday, won’t have much time to shake off their jet lag as they will face South Korea in their first match tomorrow.
They will then meet France on Monday before the crucial final group game against the United States on Tuesday.
Egypt are the top seeds and favourites to retain their title, with a squad featuring Ali Farag (World No 1), Karim Abdel Gawad (No 3), world champion Tarek Momen and Mohamed Abouelghar (No 8).