Home Success - And Disappointment - At Malaysia Cup

Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng took out top seed Youssef Soliman in the men's final of the ACE Malaysia Cup - but Amina Orfi denied the hosts a home double when the 17-year-old Egyptian defeated Malaysian No.1 seed Sivasangari Subramaniam in the women's climax.

In the men's final, home favourite and No.2 seed Ng overcame world No.11 Soliman on home soil to claim his first title of the season - and the biggest of his career - in front of a packed Kuala Lumpur crowd.

It was an attritional 18-minute first game, and the question loomed whether the gruelling 95-minute semi-final against compatriot Youssef Ibrahim would affect Soliman as the match progressed.

It was neck-and-neck all the way through the opener to 7-7, but the Malaysian managed to pick up a string of uncontested points to win the game 11-7 and take a lead in the match.

The second and third games followed an identical pattern to the first despite the ball softening leading to short, more attacking rallies.

The pair were inseparable on the scoreline in both games to 7-7, but Ng was the player to maintain composure in the key moments, winning 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 to claim the title in straight games in front of the home crowd.

"I'm really happy win my second big title here in Malaysia," said the No.2 seed after the match. "I won the Malaysian Open back in 2019. I'm really happy to do it again.

"Thank you everyone for attending, thank you everyone for the support, it really helped us push through and thank you to ACE Management for pushing this through.

"Thank you to all the sponsors for making this possible and there's a long list of people I want to thank. It's a big team and I want to thank everyone on my team, friends and family as well as my parents.

"A big game changer for me was my parents doing my laundry for me this week and getting my shirts ready! It's the small things but it shows there's so many things that come into play to achieve this victory."

In the women's final, No.2 seed Orfi upset top seed and Malaysia No.1 Sivasangari to win the second PSA Squash Tour title of her career.

In a fantastic start for the Malaysian, the No.1 seed produced a near-faultless first-game performance. Sivasangari maintained a low error count while managing to put Orfi on the back-foot, neutralising the young Egyptian's powerful striking ability as the top seed lead for the duration of the game and took a 1/0 lead in the match.

Despite Orfi being given several strokes and no lets against her in game two, she continued to pick up points against the home favourite to 9-9, before taking two crucial points to get over the line and level the match at one-all.

The third game finished in dramatic fashion as the pair battled hard in another close-fought affair, with Sivasangari earning the first game ball. The Malaysian left the court believing she had retaken her advantage in the match as the referee gave a no let in her favour at 10-9.

A review from Orfi overturned the decision to a stoke, however, and the No.2 seed pushed on to take the lead for the first time in the game at 2/1.

The brutal contest continued in game four, as the pair couldn't be separated on the scoreline to 8-8, but Sivasangari, spurred on by the huge flow of support from her home crowd in Kuala Lumpur, pushed onto 10-8, where the Egyptian made an uncharacteristic error to hit the tin and take the match to a decider after an astonishing 72 minutes.

The Malaysian began to slow as the length of the rallies began to take an effect, but Orfi looked fresher, hitting lengths with as much severity as game one, creating a significant gap on the scoreline for the first time in the match at 9-3.

The home favourite fought back, but Orfi took the game 11-6 after a gruelling 89 minutes to upset the top seed and claim the 2024 ACE Malaysia Squash Cup title.

"I told myself that this has happened to me before," said the Egyptian after the match. "In my Squash on Fire final I was up and I lost a game. I had to stay focused and she is under immense pressure - she's the Malaysian No.1, world No.9 and she's playing in front of her home crowd. I think I worked that to my advantage in the end.

"I want to thank everyone for coming to this event. The crowd were amazing even though not all of you are on my side but it brought a lot of energy for me on court. Second of all I want to thank everyone who sponsor this tournament and bring it to life because I really enjoyed my stay here in Malaysia, this is my second time and I love it so much. Hopefully I'll be back next year."