In the men’s first round held at the National Squash Centre, Bukit Jalil, the 32-years-old Terengganu-born easily whipped Penangite Ivan 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 12-10 to face Leo Au of Hong Kong, who had beaten Angus Gilams of England, in the quarterfinals scheduled tomorrow.

“Today’s match was fiercer than the previous matches. I told myself as long as I was not yet out of the box (before the game ended), I would not be discouraged and would continue to fight until I triumphed.

“But it’s sad that two Malaysian players had to face each other in the first round when Ivan was finding his rhythm after emerging as national champion recently, but to be a champion in a tournament like this you have to win all matches,” he told reporters after the match.

Malaysia’s eight seeded, Ng Eain Yow also made it to the last eight after overwhelming his opponent from Australia Rex Hendrik 11-8, 13-11, 12-10 in 45 minutes to face fourth-seeded Lucas Serme of France who trounced Mazen Gamal of Eygpt 11-1, 11-5, 11-9 in the first round.

The former women’s national number two, Low Wee Wern also had no problem in setting aside the eight seeded from Hong Kong, Tong Tsz-Wing in straight sets 11-8 11-6 11-6 in 40 minutes to face second-seeded Liu Tsz- Ling of Hong Kong who defeated Philippines’s Jemcya Aribado 12-14 11-4 11-4 11-4 in the first round.

“So, today obviously playing with Tsz-Wing who is top 50 in the world was quite a good match for me. It’s a great start for me but I am still not feeling very comfortable on the court and definitely, it’s far from my best.

“My main goal is to actually get back to playing in the competitive games so that I can enter as many tournaments as possible. As you know, my current ranking is 256th in the world, its hard for me to enter the big tournaments after a long break due to my knee injury, “she said.

Meanwhile, newly crowned as 2018 National Champion S. Sivasangari was in no mood to stress herself out with the pressures as she eliminated Sunayna Kuruvilla of India 11-5,11-6, 11-9 in just 23 minutes.

Waiting for her in the quarterfinals tomorrow would be the Hong Kong player, Lee Ka Yi who edged six seeded Tinnie Gilis of Belgium 11-7, 3-11, 6-11, 11-8,11-3.

Results of Malaysian players who were defeated in the first round:-

Men’s:

Abdullah Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 MOHD SYAFIQ KAMAL (MAS)

Women’s:

Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 11-5 9-11 11-8 11-2 RACHEL ARNOLD (MAS)

Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 NAZIHAH HANIS (MAS)

Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11-3 6-11 11-7 11-9 AIKA AZMAN (MAS)