Malaysia's squash gold guarantee

Malaysia are guaranteed a gold medallist in the men's singles squash after Beng Hee Ong and Mohamad Azlan Iskander both won their semifinals on Wednesday at the Kahalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex to qualify for Thursday's final.

Defending champion Ong beat India's Saurav Ghosal 9-1, 9-2, 6-9, 9-4 and top seed Iskander saw off Mansoor Zaman of Pakistan 10-8, 9-6, 9-7 in their semifinal.

26 year-old Ong stamped his authority on the match from the start by making good use of the court, comfortably winning the first and second games. Just when it looked like an easy match for Ong, Ghosal sprung into life in the third game.

The 20 year-old began the fourth game in similar fashion and raced into a 3-0 lead. But Ong hit back with a series of long rallies and levelled the score at 4-4, he continued to apply the pressure and won the game 9-4 to book his place in the final.

Iskandar 's never-say-die attitude stood him in good stead as he won a nail-biting match. He began the match on the back foot and conceded four points without return. He finally broke the ice after a series of long rallies. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, the 24 year-old Malaysian player sustained a hand injury, which delayed proceedings.

It was over 10 minutes before play resumed and a rejuvenated Iskander hit back to tie the score at 5-5 and go on to take the game 10-8. The second began with the sharp-witted Malaysian asking the crowd to keep their babies quiet.

When things finally settled down, Zaman began applying the pressure and targeted the lower corners of the court. He took the lead, 5-1. But the determined Iskander again managed to salvage a couple of points with an impressive array of shots, regained the upper hand and claimed the second game, 9-6.

The third began with Zaman again taking an early lead; 4-1. But Iskandar played quality squash to get the better of Zaman to seal the game 9-7 and set up a mouth-watering final clash.

After his victory, Ong said, "I felt comfortable in the first two games, but in the third my opponent's backhand, which is his strong side, dominated. At four points down in the fourth game I came under pressure, but I am the more experienced player and relied on that to get back. Momentum is so important in tight matches. When I started to come back in the fourth game, the momentum was with me."

On the tournament as a whole, he said, "I rarely play in glass courts, so I have to adjust my timing because the white ball is slower. I think this tournament has illustrated the improvement in Asian squash over the last four, five years. Countries such as Hong Kong and India are developing talented players."

Iskander said, "I didn't feel physically sharp as in my previous match. I felt that I played only at about 60 percent. My opponent mixes it a lot. It was a game of chess." He also revealed some of his more unorthodox tactics: "I am willing to use legitimate tactics to try to break the rhythm of an opponent. For example, calling for the court to be cleaned."

15th Asian Games