Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng and Sivasangari Subramaniam became the first squash players to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games after winning gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya.
Both successfully defended their Asian Games titles, with Ng beating India’s Abhay Singh 11-5 11-9 11-5 in the men’s final before Subramaniam defeated Anahat Singh 11-4 11-4 11-7 in the women’s event.
The results secured the first Olympic places in squash history after the sport was added to the programme for Los Angeles 2028.
Ng, the top seed, was pushed by Abhay in a tight opening game, with the pair level at 9-9 before the Malaysian took control. He then pulled away in the second and closed out the match in 39 minutes.
“It feels amazing, I am still processing it and I think I will need to give it time to sink in,” Ng said.
“But I am more proud of today’s performance than the Gold medal to be honest, as knowing that I can put up that kind of performance after a tough week, makes me feel really proud.
“I am so happy that I was able to enjoy the moment, as there was so much pressure on the occasion – there are so many expectations put on us, but today was all about staying focused right to the very end.”
The victory also made Ng the first Malaysian man to win consecutive Asian Games squash singles titles in 20 years.
Subramaniam, the women’s world No.5, followed with a similarly dominant performance against world No.17 Anahat Singh, taking control from the start and completing a straight-games victory.
She became the first Malaysian woman to win back-to-back Asian Games singles titles since eight-time world champion Nicol David.
“There is always pressure in these types of matches, not only as the defending champion, because there was so much at stake, so I was just trying to put those emotions away,” Subramaniam said.
“I am really happy that I was able to hide those emotions away and just try to play my best squash on-court, so being able to secure the gold medal is a really good feeling.”
The Olympic qualification marks a significant moment for squash, which will make its debut at the Los Angeles Games alongside a programme featuring men’s and women’s singles and mixed doubles.
Hong Kong, China’s Ka Yi Lee and Tang Ming Hong won the Asian Games mixed doubles gold, beating compatriots Tse Yee Lam Toby and Lai Cheuk Nam 11-8 11-3 in the final.
“We are so happy to have got the Gold medal,” Lee and Tang said.
“Honestly, we arrived into this week with hardly any hopes of reaching the podium due to our seedings, so to be able to get through this together and come away with the Gold medal is unbelievable.”