KUALA LUMPUR: It's cold at the Hangzhou Olympic Squash Centre but the Malaysian men's and women's squash players are all fired up for the team events starting tomorrow.
Team manager Nafzahizam Adnan said they had three training sessions at the competition venue.
"The venue is good as it has both individual and doubles courts, but it is too cold.
"Some players like the cold conditions here, but some are not too happy with it.
"The seating capacity at the venue is small and the air condition is too strong. However, our players are all in high spirits and they are looking forward to a good start," said Nafzahizam.
The Malaysian men's team won gold at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games but they are seeded second in Hangzhou. The team are spearheaded by world No. 18 and Asian champion Ng Eain Yow, and the other members are Addeen Idrakie, Syafiq Kamal and Ivan Yuen who is featuring in his fourth consecutive Asiad.
Eain Yow, Syafiq and Ivan were members of the 2018 triumphant
squad together with Nafiizwan Adnan, who has retired.
Malaysia will meet the Philippines and South Korea tomorrow.
The other teams in Group B are third seeds Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand.
Top seeds India are in Group A with Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore and Nepal.
The Malaysian women's team are also seeded second and will be led by world No. 37 S. Sivasangari.
The other members are Rachel Arnold and the Azman sisters - Aifa and Aira.
Malaysia will open their Group B challenge against Nepal and Pakistan tomorrow. The other teams are third seeds India and Macau.
Group A consists of defending champions Hong Kong, Japan, S. Korea, Thailand and Mongolia.
Nafzahizam said Hong Kong and India will pose a strong challenge to Malaysia in both the men's and women's events.
"But we are confident that both our teams will qualify for the finals. And if the players play to their form, we have a good chance of finishing on top of the podium."
Five gold medals are at stake in squash, and Malaysia have set a target of two.