SINGAPORE, June 10 — Malaysia retained their supremacy as the squash powerhouse in the region by sweeping both gold medals offered in the men’s and women’s individual event of the 2015 SEA Games at the Kallang Squash Centre, here, tonight.
Rachel Arnold faced stiff resistance from her teammate Vanessa Raj in an all-Malaysian final before emerging victorious in a four-set thriller, winning 11-13, 11-9, 11-3, 11-5.
Rachel and Vanessa who received ‘bye’ until the quarter-final, defeated their respective opponents in the semifinals with Rachel edging Mao Shi Yuan 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 from the host country and Vanessa beating Jemyca Aribado of the Philippines 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 in the morning.
In another all-Malaysian final, top seed Sanjay Singh Chal defeated Muhd Addeen Idrakie Bahtiar 11-7, 11-3, 12-10 to claim the gold in the men’s category.
Sanjay who received a ‘bye’ until the quarter-final stage, defeated Singapore’s Samuel Kang 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 while Muhd Addeen Idrakie secured a 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-7 victory over Bryan Koh, also from Singapore, in the other semi-final.
On her victory, Rachel who is the younger sister of national number three, Delia Arnold regarded it as ‘sweet revenge’ as she had lost to Vanessa in the SSJM tournament held in Penang a fortnight ago.
She also thanked her parents who came from Kuala Lumpur just to support her.
“This victory means a lot to me because this is my debut in the SEA Games. Hopefully, I can help the team to win the gold medal when the pool matches start tomorrow,” said Rachel.
Echoing her sentiment was Sanjay who was glad to win the match despite facing tremendous pressure as he was the top seed.
He also regarded the gold medal victory as the biggest achievement in his career while acknowledging Muhd Addeen Idrakie’s fighting spirit.
“It’s still a dream come true for me (gold) medal in the SEA Games and we are halfway to sweeping all four gold medals offered. Hopefully in the team event we can emulate the same feat,” added the 21-year-old Sarawakian. — Bernama
