KUALA LUMPUR: Ever since World No. 13 Ng Eain Yow moved to Bristol to fine-tune his professional career in 2019, the Southwest city of England has turned into a squash hub for rising Malaysians stars.
Bristol offered the Malaysians an ideal place to study, at the University of West England (UWE), and nurture their squash under the university's experienced head coach, John Welton.
The city is also the base of globally known Elite Squash - which is run by Hadrian Stiff - under whom Eain Yow has also developed himself as a top pro.
The up and coming C. Ameeshenraj (men's World No. 114) and J. Yasshmita (women's World No. 87) have also followed in Eain Yow's footsteps, and are currently studying and training at UWE.
Top junior, Harith Danial, is the latest Malaysian to join the UWE squash set-up, and the 18-year-old is set to be part of the Bristol Buccaneers team that will compete in the prestigious Squash Super League (SSL) beginning on Nov 15.
With the inclusion of Harith, the Buccaneers will have five Malaysians - the others being Asian No. 1 Eain Yow, Ameeshenraj, Yasshmita and women's World No. 30 Rachel Arnold - playing in the SSL.
The Buccaneers also boast of former World No.1 Mohamed El Shorbagy of England, World No. 13 Youssef Soliman of Egypt, five-time Commonwealth Games champion Joelle King of New Zealand and top Welsh women's player Tesni Murphy.
Welton, the Buccaneers team manager and coach, said the SSL will give the young Malaysian players the chance to get top class exposure.
"Five Malaysian players make up almost half of the Buccaneers squad, and they will see plenty of action in the top league," Welton told Timesport.
"Eain Yow will be one of our top men's players as well as Rachel while Ameeshen, Yasshmita and Harith will be our Under-25 players in the team."
The Buccaneers will battle against five other teams in the SSL - Bexley Ballers, Chichester Centurions, Coolhurst Cavaliers, Leamington Royals and St George's Hill Knights - for the title.
Six rounds of matches will be held on Friday nights until May next year while the final will be held in June.