Malaysian Wee Wern Earns Double First At World University Championships by Howard Harding
photo WSF
September 12, 2016 -
A dramatic fightback in the final of the World University Team Squash
Championship saw hosts Malaysia overcome top seeds Hong Kong to win the
title for the first time in the event's 20-year history.
The triumph in the 9th staging of the event in the Nicol David Arena at
the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in Kuala Lumpur also earned Low
Wee Wern a second gold medal after the KDU Penang University student
earlier won the women's individual title.
Hong Kong took the lead after men's champion Yip Tsz Fung won the
opening match 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 against Ivan Yuen, his opponent in the
individual final.
The second match was also a repeat of the women's final in which Wee
Wern levelled the tie after 32 minutes with a 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 victory
over Tong Tsz-Wing.
After establishing a 2/1 lead in the decider - Hong Kong's Wong Chi Him
taking the third game against Sanjay Singh Chal 11-1 - the event
favourites looked to be coasting to their anticipated victory over the
second seeds.
"It's do or die right now, you gotta push to the end," Malaysian national coach Ong Beng Hee told Chal after the third game.
The rejuvenated second string stormed back to win the remaining two
games to clinch victory for the hosts - much to the delight of the
partisan crowd.
Chal, majoring in Business at the University of Malaya, looked down and
out of the contest after surrendering meekly in the third game.
"After the third game, Beng Hee was saying that I was flagging, I
didn't up the pace. You gotta push to the end, you don't want to
disappoint Malaysia," explained left-hander Chal after his 11-8, 4-11,
1-11, 11-9, 11-7 win in 57 minutes.
"With the crowd behind me, and Malaysia in my heart, I managed to pull through for the win."
RESULTS: World University Team Squash Championship, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Final:
[2] MALAYSIA bt [1] HONG KONG CHINA 2/1
Ivan Yuen lost to Yip Tsz Fung 6-11, 8-11, 9-11 (44m)
Low Wee Wern bt Tong Tsz-Wing 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (32m)
Sanjay Singh Chal bt Wong Chi Him 11-8, 4-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-7 (57m)
Bronze medallists: [5] JAPAN & [6] SOUTH AFRICA
5th place play-off: [3] GREAT BRITAIN bt [4] REPUBLIC OF KOREA 2/1
7th place play-off: [7] SWITZERLAND bt [9] AUSTRALIA 2/1
9th place play-off: [10] CHINA bt [8] PAKISTAN 3/0
11th place: [11] LEBANON
