Malaysia produced a grand performance to finish ninth at the Men’s World Team Squash Championship in Washington on Friday.
The team, comprising Ng Eain Yow, Ivan Yuen, Syafiq Kamal and Addeen Idrakie, rolled up their socks to deliver another focused performance in the 2-0 win over Australia at Squash On Fire Complex.
Australia, the seventh seeds, who finished on the podium in the last five editions, were forced to play the tie without their No 1 player Ryan Cuskelly who was injured.
But it was still no walk in the park for Malaysia as World No 31 Eain Yow had to work hard to wear down hard-hitting veteran Cameron Pilley in the 12-14, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4 success in the opening match.
Three-time national champion Ivan Yuen then stepped up to deliver the winning point by beating Rex Hedrick 13-11, 11-4, 11-8.
With Malaysia already claiming an unassailable 2-0 lead, the third tie between Syafiq Kamal and Zac Alexander was withdrawn.
It is certainly a good finish for Malaysia, who were placed 12th two years ago.
“The Australians put up a fight as they didn’t want to go down losing,” said assistant head coach Andrew Cross.
“It was tough as Pilley ran down every ball against Eain Yow.
“But the team have done well this week and I’m happy with the overall results.
“Most of the players should still be around for the next world meet in two years time, so we’ll see what we can do then.”
In the semi-finals, defending champions Egypt reached their fifth straight final but not before a scare in the 2-1 win over 11th seeds Wales.
The Welsh drew first blood when World No 12 Joel Makin stunned reigning world champion Tarek Momen 11-9, 13-15, 11-2, 4-11, 11-9.
But the Egyptians fought back with World No 3 Karim Abdel Gawad and eighth-ranked Mohamed Abouelghar delivering the points.
They played second seeds England, who edged France 2-1 in the other semi-final, in the final late yesterday.