Is Malaysia losing its status as a squash power?

KUALA LUMPUR: It’s an underachievement, considering Malaysia’s high squash standard.

This is worrying.

Malaysia won only one title out of eight events at the Asian Junior Championships which ended in

Panzhihua, China yesterday.

Three Malaysians reached the finals in their respective age groups.

While Harleein Tan lived up to her billing by winning the girls’ Under-17 title, Whitney Isabelle Wilson and Vidhurran Ruthiran lost in the finals of the girls Under-19 and boys’ Under-15 categories respectively.

In retrospect,

Malaysian juniors won five titles in 2013, four in 2014, six in 2015, four in 2016, five in 2017, two in 2018 and five in 2019.

There were no events in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19.

But in 2022, Malaysia won four titles, five in 2023, three in 2024 and only two last year.

The results clearly show a significant decline in Malaysia’s junior squash over the last three years.

From consistently winning four to six titles annually, it has now dropped to only one title this year.

With the inclusion of squash in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Malaysians should have made more impact in the Asian Junior event.

Sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli said it is a worrying factor Malaysia have lost their dominance in the Asian Junior Championships.

“It is a signal that there is something wrong with our development programme, which has not produced the desired results.

“If our players cannot win titles at Asian junior level, how are we going to produce world class players?

“With squash in the Olympics, more countries are taking the sport more seriously. Many are investing more in squash and look at China. They have pumped in a lot of money to build so many courts and have a massive development programme.

“They are focusing on the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and they will make an impact in the Games.

“But we don’t have many squash courts and to make matters worse, some of the courts are not in playing conditions.

“We also need to focus more on having a proper development programme with a good training method and coaches.

“We are focusing more on world No. 5 S. Sivasangari and other top players but what happens after these players retire?

“Will we have reliable players to replace them?

“It is a wake- up call to the sport associations and also to the national body before it is too late,” said Pekan.

“The decline should not simply be accepted as normal. Malaysian squash has a strong legacy in Asia, and the responsible organisations must identify the root causes behind this downward trend and take immediate corrective action,” he added.

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المصدر: New Straits Times