Malaysian squash stars Eain Yow Ng and Sivasangari Subramaniam have secured their places at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. By clinching gold medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, they became the first athletes in the sport to earn automatic qualification for the upcoming Olympic Games, where squash is set to make its debut.
World number 18 Eain Yow Ng delivered a dominant performance at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, sweeping past India’s Abhay Singh with set scores of 11-9, 11-5, 11-5. The match lasted 33 minutes and confirmed Ng as the first Malaysian player to book a ticket to the 2028 Games. Soon after, world number five Subramaniam secured her qualification by defeating India’s Anahat Singh in a swift 23-minute final, finishing 11-4, 11-4, 11-7.
Both champions successfully defended their Asian Games titles without losing a single game throughout the tournament, contributing to Malaysia’s overall medal tally. For 18-year-old Anahat Singh, the path to the final was marked by a historic semifinal comeback where she rallied from two sets down to overcome Japan’s Satomi Watanabe. Following that win, she remarked, “I think it is the best win of my career. She’s number six in the world, and that’s the highest win I’ve ever had in my squash career.” Her final appearance also established her as the first Indian woman to reach an Asian Games singles final. Earlier, Singh, the world junior champion, produced a stellar comeback in the semifinals from two sets down to overpower Japan’s Satomi Watanabe (9-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3) on Saturday.
In other matches, Pakistan’s Noor Zaman defeated compatriot Ashab Irfan 3-0 to secure a bronze medal. Meanwhile, Japan’s Satomi Watanabe claimed bronze in the women’s event after a 3-1 victory over Hong Kong’s Sin Yuk Chan.
