THE BEST SEEDS In the SRAM In House Doubles competition’s mixed doubles final, Ong Sai Hung-S. Sivasangari overcame yet another difficult challenge to win.
The pair beat surprise finalists Wee Ming Hock-U. Thanussaa 11-9, 11-8 at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday, overcoming a negative four handicap.
Sai Hung, 21, had already won the mixed gender doubles tournament earlier this week with partner Darren Rahul Pragasam, capping off a fantastic week for the World No 158.
“Despite the fact that we won 2-0, it was a close game because to the handicap, with Ming Hock-Thanussa having a two-point lead,” Sai Hung stated yesterday.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Siu Lynn leads the way for the United States in squash, while Syafiq competes for a spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
“But we did fairly well to overcome the handicap and finish aggressively,” Darren says of his disappointment in reaching the SRAM PSA 5 final.
“It’s been a terrific week for me, having won with Darren as well.” I certainly did not anticipate this at the start of the week.
“Hopefully, my performance this week will demonstrate my worth as a doubles player for future Commonwealth Games,” she said.
“Ming Hock and Thanussaa deserve some credit because they performed well to overcome higher-ranked couples en route to the final,” Sivasangari said.
“However, today’s challenge was well-prepared for us.
“I think it also helps that we’re both from the same batch and have strong communication and can play on the same wavelength.”
“Given that we can’t compete in any Professional Squash Association (PSA) competitions right now, it’s been a wonderful week for us.”
“Now, it’s back to the everyday grind for me,” Sivasangari, a Cornell University student in the United States, said, “although I’m expecting to return to the US next month.”
Squash: The top seeds put an end to the upstarts’ streak.
THE BEST SEEDS In the SRAM In House Doubles competition’s mixed doubles final, Ong Sai Hung-S. Sivasangari overcame yet another difficult challenge to win.
The pair beat surprise finalists Wee Ming Hock-U. Thanussaa 11-9, 11-8 at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday, overcoming a negative four handicap.
Sai Hung, 21, had already won the mixed gender doubles tournament earlier this week with partner Darren Rahul Pragasam, capping off a fantastic week for the World No 158.
“Despite the fact that we won 2-0, it was a close game because to the handicap, with Ming Hock-Thanussa having a two-point lead,” Sai Hung stated yesterday.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Siu Lynn leads the way for the United States in squash, while Syafiq competes for a spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
“But we did fairly well to overcome the handicap and finish aggressively,” Darren says of his disappointment in reaching the SRAM PSA 5 final.
“It’s been a terrific week for me, having won with Darren as well.” I certainly did not anticipate this at the start of the week.
“Hopefully, my performance this week will demonstrate my worth as a doubles player for future Commonwealth Games,” she said.
“Ming Hock and Thanussaa deserve some credit because they performed well to overcome higher-ranked couples en route to the final,” Sivasangari said.
“However, today’s challenge was well-prepared for us.
“I think it also helps that we’re both from the same batch and have strong communication and can play on the same wavelength.”
“Given that we can’t compete in any Professional Squash Association (PSA) competitions right now, it’s been a wonderful week for us.”
“Now, it’s back to the everyday grind for me,” Sivasangari, a Cornell University student in the United States, said, “although I’m expecting to return to the US next month.”
Here’s Why Squash Is Considered the Best Sport in the World.
You’re in for a treat if you’ve never tried squash (the sport, not the vegetable). Amanda Sobhy, a female squash champion, explains why it’s so difficult.
Raise your hand if you believed squash was only a side dish served at Thanksgiving. Exactly the same. Squash, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult sports to master. To be a successful squash player, you must be in excellent physical condition and committed to improving your fitness abilities both on and off the court.
Do you have any doubts? After considering calorie burn, aerobic endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and injury risk, Forbes classified squash as the number-one healthiest sport in 2003. Squash is also considered one of the most difficult racquet sports by the Professional Squash Association (PSA). If you’re still not convinced, simply look at Amanda Sobhy, the highest-ranked American squash player of all time (male or female).
Unacquainted with the sport? What you need to know is as follows: Squash is similar to tennis in that you strike a ball back and forth with your opponent using a racquet (smaller than a tennis racquet). You can play singles or doubles, much like tennis. However, there’s no net between you and the other player; you stand next to each other in a small, walled-in court. The idea is to hit the ball against the front wall of the court until one of the players fails to return it. You gain a point for each time you return the ball, but there’s a catch. The ball can bounce against any of the surrounding walls too, but it must bounce against the front wall for it to score a point. A full squash match is usually made up of five sets (11 points each) and a game can last from 40 minutes to an hour. (Talk about a serious cardio workout.)
The squash ball is also a key component of the game-so much so that it can be the leading factor between a good match and a bad one. Unlike other sports, you play squash with different balls (indicated by a small, colored dot) depending on your skill level. All squash balls are small, hollow, and made of rubber. As they bounce off the court walls and floor, they heat up-making them bounce easier and faster. Each color behaves differently; usually, the blue ball is the fastest and is recommended for beginners, who may have difficulty warming it up. The red is for amateur players, while the yellow is usually played by the pros.
Why is squash so tough? It’s like tennis, in that you’re sprinting back and forth to hit the ball (have you seen Sloane Stephens’ moves?!), but there’s no wait time while the ball comes sailing across the net. You’re continuously moving around the court, switching directions at the drop of a hat, with the ball coming at you from virtually all angles-all without a second of rest. Never mind that you also need to hit and aim the ball to score points. Sounds exhausting, right? Now try doing it for an hour.
“You need speed, agility, endurance, plyometrics, and power,” says Sobhy. “That’s why it’s called the number-one healthiest sport-because all these different elements combined make it so tough and so difficult to play.”
Although squash is mainly a winter sport, training happens year-round. “The off-season will be predominantly a lot of endurance work,” explains the 25-year-old pro. The typical training session for a squash player will cover speed, strength, agility, and stability. According to Sobhy, year-round workouts will definitely include weights and lots of running, but those workouts will then be modified to include more speed and agility work as the season approaches.
Another surprising perk of the sport: Unlike say, basketball, where height gives you a clear advantage, squash doesn’t discriminate between body types. “There is no real ideal shape that you have to be,” says Sobhy. Any person with any body type can play the sport, but it’s up to them to use their body as a tool and manipulate it in a way that makes them a good player. “Everyone kind of brings their own element to the game with their shape and size. You adapt your game to your shape, to your size, and you win because of that.” You can’t be too tall or too short to play squash, which makes it very appealing to anyone. In a way, the player’s body is their secret weapon to winning.
Sounds like there’s no excuse not to hop in a court and give squash a try-if you can handle it, that is.
