Leonel Cardenas Topples Top Seed Eain Yow Ng In 92-Minute Thriller

Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas reaches the Squash in the Land semi-finals after defeating World No.19 Eain Yow Ng after five gruelling games and nine match balls.

The Mexican had faced Yow Ng three times before and had lost every occasion, taking just one game off the Malaysian in the process.

The first phase of the match saw long, attritional rallies as both players looked happy to settle into a pattern at the back of the court, but the Mexican was taking more of his chances as evidenced in a pin-point accurate cross-court nick to go 3-1 up.

Cardenas kept getting the better of the longer rallies, and every attempt Yow Ng made to come short hit the tin as Cardenas racked up a 10-5 lead.

The Malaysian set out to catch up with his Mexican opponent, but could only reach 7-10 before another error gifted Cardenas the first game of the match.

The World No.34 continued on the front foot, but the No.1 seed had begun the second game more consistently, and managed to keep level with his on-form opponent to 5-5.

The players were traded points to 8-8, but Yow Ng made an error alongside conceding two strokes to give the No.6 seed a 2-0 advantage and a chance wrap up the first quarter-final match in three games.

As in the previous two games, the Mexican started better, building a 5-3 lead with consistent squash and picking the right times to attack.

Despite the dire straits he found himself in, the 26-year-old was creating issues, shown in a cross-court nick rivalling Cardenas’ effort in the first game to make it 5-7.

Cardenas pushed on and was rewarded with four match balls. Yow Ng went on to produce his most accurate squash of match, pulling the Mexican around the court and winning five consecutive points to earn his own chance to win the game.

In a scrappy tie break that saw Cardenas use his final review, and also saw a collision between the two players after a hard-fought rally at 12-11, the No.1 seed finally won his first game of the match 13-11, surviving four match balls in the process.

Cardenas looked fatigued at the start of the fourth game, whether that was the physical effects of playing 51 minutes against the World No.19 or the mental effects of allowing four match balls to slip away.

The Mexican soon righted the ship, however, and despite cautions from referee Paul Alexander on his movement after taking his shots, Yow Ng couldn’t seem to keep up as Cardenas stayed further back, and through a more conservative style than the Malaysian, the underdog fought to a 9-4 advantage.

Yow Ng regained the form he maintained at the end of the third game and battled back to 7-9, but a backhand drop from the Mexican earned himself another three match balls.

The Malaysian continued his fight back, hitting the nick with a backhand drop in motion at 7-10, and history repeated itself as the No.1 seed survived his 5th, 6th and 7th match balls of the encounter to level the match 2-2.

Cardenas again started strong, accumulating an early lead through mistakes from Yow Ng and a patient style of play that focused on correct shot selection, something that had been sorely missing from his game during his seven chances at match ball.

This game, the Mexican played more to the front of the court than before, but it was errors from Yow Ng that exacerbated Cardenas’ lead with three hits of the tin in quick succession giving the No.6 seed an 8-2 lead.

Cardenas earned an additional five match balls after an error from Yow Ng. It looked as though the fifth game could go the way of the last two as the Malaysian prevented Cardenas’ eighth match ball, but a sensational cross-court nick finally won Cardenas the match after five games and 92 minutes.

“It’s mental for me to play against him,” said Cardenas after the match. “He beat me the last couple of times.

“He’s a great player, he’s one of the top players and I think the hardest thing in training was believing I could do it.

“I always give my 100% and I always fight for every point. I think I just kept saying ‘fight, fight’ and I made a result.”

Cardenas will face Scotland’s Greg Lobban in Saturday’s semi-finals (GMT-5).

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Result: Squash in the Land Presented by Greater Cleveland Squash 2024 Quarter-Final
[6] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt [1] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-2: 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 10-12, 11-6 (92m)