Azlan flies in coach from London to prepare for title defenc
KUALA LUMPUR: Mohd Azlan Iskandar has forked out his own money to fly in his coach from England to prepare him for the defence of his Malaysian Open squash championship title from July 23-27. Azlan, who has been based in London for the past two years, first brought in Peter Genever for two weeks last month. The 34-year-old Genever is here again for a three-week stint to specifically prepare Azlan for the Malaysian Open. The qualifying rounds (on July 21-22) and the first round (July 23) of the championship will be held at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil. The championship will be moved to The Curve in Mutiara Damansara from the quarter-final stage onwards from July 24. The 26-year-old Azlan, who first won the Malaysian Open in 2004, is also paying a hefty sum for Genever to train him for the five weeks and the Malaysian is hoping that it will be money well spent. “I have to pay for his services for five weeks as he has left the others under his care in London to guide me,” said Azlan, who has won 10 Professional Squash Association (PSA) titles since turning pro in 2000. “I am confident of giving my best in the tournament with the presence of my coach.” Genever, meanwhile, is more than happy to be here to help Azlan, ranked 13th in the world, achieve his goal of retaining the Malaysia Open title. “His fitness level is excellent. I am helping him with his game strategy and also to raise his confidence level,” said Genever. The coach also said that Azlan was mentally and physically ready to break into the top 10 in the world rankings. “I am confident he will be able to achieve it soon,” said Genever. Azlan, who turned pro in 2000, has a best-ever ranking of 12th in the world in April 2006. Azlan, who was seeded third in the Malaysian Open last year, upset second seed Lee Beachill of England and top seed Stewart Boswell of Australia en route to winning the title. He has been seeded third again this time and will face team-mate Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan in the first round. Azlan is tipped to meet sixth seed Mansoor Zaman of Pakistan in the quarter-finals and top seed and world No. 9 Wael El Hindi of Egypt in the last four. National No. 1 and world No. 11 Ong Beng Hee is the second seed. Beng Hee, 28, defeated Azlan to win the Kuala Lumpur Open in March.
KUALA LUMPUR: Mohd Azlan Iskandar has forked out his own money to fly in his coach from England to prepare him for the defence of his Malaysian Open squash championship title from July 23-27. Azlan, who has been based in London for the past two years, first brought in Peter Genever for two weeks last month. The 34-year-old Genever is here again for a three-week stint to specifically prepare Azlan for the Malaysian Open. The qualifying rounds (on July 21-22) and the first round (July 23) of the championship will be held at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil. The championship will be moved to The Curve in Mutiara Damansara from the quarter-final stage onwards from July 24. The 26-year-old Azlan, who first won the Malaysian Open in 2004, is also paying a hefty sum for Genever to train him for the five weeks and the Malaysian is hoping that it will be money well spent. “I have to pay for his services for five weeks as he has left the others under his care in London to guide me,” said Azlan, who has won 10 Professional Squash Association (PSA) titles since turning pro in 2000. “I am confident of giving my best in the tournament with the presence of my coach.” Genever, meanwhile, is more than happy to be here to help Azlan, ranked 13th in the world, achieve his goal of retaining the Malaysia Open title. “His fitness level is excellent. I am helping him with his game strategy and also to raise his confidence level,” said Genever. The coach also said that Azlan was mentally and physically ready to break into the top 10 in the world rankings. “I am confident he will be able to achieve it soon,” said Genever. Azlan, who turned pro in 2000, has a best-ever ranking of 12th in the world in April 2006. Azlan, who was seeded third in the Malaysian Open last year, upset second seed Lee Beachill of England and top seed Stewart Boswell of Australia en route to winning the title. He has been seeded third again this time and will face team-mate Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan in the first round. Azlan is tipped to meet sixth seed Mansoor Zaman of Pakistan in the quarter-finals and top seed and world No. 9 Wael El Hindi of Egypt in the last four. National No. 1 and world No. 11 Ong Beng Hee is the second seed. Beng Hee, 28, defeated Azlan to win the Kuala Lumpur Open in March.