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Malaysian squash achieve sweet double at Asian Team Championships

KUALA LUMPUR: The experienced Ivan Yuen proved to be the toast of the men's team as Malaysia grabbed a sensational double at the Asian Team Championships.

Malaysia had already clinched the women's title after beating top seeds Hong Kong 2-1 at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil in an earlier tie on Saturday.

Rachel Arnold and Aifa Azman had delivered the points after Hong Kong drew level with Tong Tsz Wing beating Noor Ainaa Amani Ampandi.

And the men's team stepped up when it really mattered as they fought hard for a 2-1 win over top seeds India.

World No 18 Ng Eain Yow gave Malaysia a flying start as he delivered his best performance of the week to beat world No 15 and Malaysian Open winner Saurav Ghosal 12-10, 11-4, 11-8.

India were, however, not going down without a fight,and Mahesh Mangaokar equalised by beating Syafiq Kamap 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

And the 31-year-old Ivan showed just why he's a dependable anchor for the team as he kept his focus to beat Ramit Tandon 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-1.

"Today, we just went in there to play our game and fight for every point. I definitely played to the best I could, said Ivan on Saturday.

"I had my injury concerns earlier this year, but I am so glad that I have managed to sort that out.

"I'm just grateful that I have managed to overcome that and come back stronger and everything is definitely going right for us now."

The win is Malaysia's fourth men title but their first since 2008.

It is also the first time since 2008 that Malaysia did the double in the Asian team meet.

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