KUALA LUMPUR – Newly-crowned Asian Individual Championships 2021 winner Ng Eain Yow may have wrapped up his 2021 campaign on a perfect note but there is still a lot more to be done to emerge stronger next year.
In doing so, the world number 18 vowed to train harder in a bid to make another statement in two major multi-sports games next year − Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the United Kingdom and Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
“I’ll be working really hard the next few months and I believe it will pay off. Both the big Games will be my priority going into 2022 and I believe that on my day, I can do really well,” he told Bernama when contacted.
The 23-year-old player admitted that he may have a tricky journey in the Commonwealth Games due to the participation of a couple of players, such as world number two Paul Coll from New Zealand and Welsh player Joel Makin − ranked eighth in the world − who are touted to feature in the quadrennial Games.
Eain Yow had reached the quarterfinals in his debut at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia before helping the national squad clinch gold in the team event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia.
Commenting on his triumph at the Pakistan meet, the leading squash player for the national men’s squad was over the moon to win the title and to be the first Malaysian to win the tournament since it was last won by 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan in 2011.
After he was placed as top seed in the Asian meet, Eain Yow said that the pressure was definitely on his shoulders to bring back Malaysia’s former glory.
The Kuala Lumpur-born player did not disappoint by securing the title after he edged out world number 49 Yip Tsz Fung of Hong Kong 11-6, 13-11, 11-9 in the final on Sunday.
“It means a lot to me to win both these events and finish off 2021 on a high. I always enjoy playing for Malaysia and to win for the country means a lot to me,” he added.
The right-handed player said the back-to-back titles − including helping the national men’s team claim the Asian Team Championships earlier this month − had boosted his confidence for next year’s challenges.
Eain Yow was pleased to see that the work he and coach Hadrian Stiff had put in throughout 2021 had borne fruit − describing the year as the best yet in his career.
“Overall, 2021 has been great for me. I feel that I might have had only two events in which I performed subpar but besides that, I had done well.
“I had also reached a few major milestones − breaking into the top 20 as well as winning both the Asian Team and Asian Individuals − so I’m really looking forward to what 2022 has to offer,” he added. – Bernama, December 23, 2021
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