Like his female compatriot, Sivasangari Subramaniam, Eian Yow will have the weight of national expectation on his shoulders as over 34 million Malaysians desperately seek a first ever Olympic champion.
Few Malaysian athletes, however, can boast as much big-ticket experience and know-how in absorbing pressure as Eian Yow.
With two Commonwealth Games, two Asian Games and one SEA Games, plus an Asian Youth Games, in his locker already, the high tempo, exhausting schedule and bewildering scale of another multi-sport Games will not faze him in Aichi-Negoya in September — even with the added weight of a place in squash's first ever Olympic Games as a potential prize.
Eain Yow will enter the Asian Games as the defending champion. In fact, squash's shock inclusion on the LA28 programme was announced just four days after his victory over Saurav Ghosal in the final of the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
“The reaction was huge in Malaysia when I won back in 2023," he recalls. "Siva won the match before me, and there was so much buzz around us and around squash.
“It really helped that the Olympics was announced shortly after, so that just amplified everything. There’s a lot of excitement still from that, and everyone back home can’t wait for it.
"My plan was always to defend my Asian Games title, so the icing on the cake now is the Olympic qualification attached to it. This will be my fifth major Games representing Malaysia so I think I have enough experience to enjoy it and to know how to bring my best to the court.”
The scale of the Asian Games — bigger in terms of athlete numbers than any other multi-sport event in the world, even the Olympics themselves — means that Eian Yow can't allow himself to think about LA28 just yet. The task in front of him in Japan is enough to fill up his head space for now.
“The Asian Games is so big by itself, and for me, it makes no difference if there’s an Olympic qualification or not,” Eain Yow said in a recent interview with The Star.
“Even at the last edition, winning gold was such a big thing for me that I’m not thinking more than that. This time it’s the same again. Of course, there will be more attention regarding the Olympic slot, but for me there’s nothing different.”
Eian Yow was a stellar junior player, winning the World Junior Championship in 2016 in Poland, three titles (U13, U15 and U17) at the British Junior Open and two gold medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games.
He studied business management at Bristol University, graduating in 2024. He is still based in the city in south-west England, where he benefits from training regularly with the ElShorbagy brothers under coach Hadrian Stiff.
Visiting Malaysia for only a few weeks a year, he has been able to shield himself from some of the hype in the build-up to Aichi-Negoya.
"There's been more media coverage in Malaysia, deservedly, since the Olympic inclusion which is overall a great thing for the sport," he explains. "[But] I am mostly in the UK anyway so it's easier for me to focus on my training.
"It's an exciting opportunity, obviously, and with that comes pressure as there are hopes that squash will be able to contribute for Malaysia. It's been something that I'm fully focused on and a privilege to be in this position so I'll just keep my head down, train hard and give myself a good shot of doing well."
The two-time Asian champion's PSA world ranking has hovered in and around the world top 20 for the last five years, peaking in April 2025 when he hit the top 10 for the first time. He has since dropped back to 19, but is sanguine enough not to become too fixated on the number next to his name.
He says: "I'm not too worried about where I'll be in a couple of years' time, because I know if I put in the work and I'm improving my squash, my ranking will sort itself out and I'll be in a good enough spot to qualify for the Olympics anyway."
It's true that, were the Olympic qualification cut-off date to apply today, Eian Yow would earn a place in LA28 draw by virtue of his ranking.
But, of course, he is not taking anything for granted, instead retaining his characteristically calm demeanour and taking one tournament at a time.
“I want to do well and win in Japan, but the main focus for me is to be the highest I can be in the PSA world rankings. That will mean that I’m playing the kind of squash that will be worthy of an Olympic spot, whichever way it happens.”
