Pearson Boost Makes Beng Hee Champion

Malaysian squash star Ong Beng Hee credited English coach David Pearson for his title triumph in the Royal Lake Club Open, the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 event in its second year at the Royal Lake Club in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Top seed Beng Hee, the world No23, had to fight back from 2/1 down to beat his fellow countryman Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan, ranked ten places lower, 11-5, 3-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 in 96 minutes.

The 33-year-old former world No7 gave full credit to two weeks of hard training under Pearson.

"Pearson helped to boost my mental and physical strength in just two weeks," Beng Hee told the Malaysia Star. "I thank SRAM (Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia) and also NSC (National Sports Council) for sending me to England at such short notice to help improve my game.

"It was mentally and physically a tough match against Nafiizwan. But I thank God for managing to hang on to come back from the brink of defeat to win.

"It feels really great winning my first PSA title this year after struggling in previous tournaments," added Beng Hee.

The win, his first since January last year, marks up the 15th PSA Tour title of Beng Hee's career since April 1999.