Ong Beng Hee (born 4 February 1980, in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

) is a retired professional

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

player and coach. Between 2000 and 2006, he won four consecutive Asian Championship titles. In 2002 and 2006 he won gold medals at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. He won 11

Professional Squash Association The Professional Squash Association (PSA) is the governing body for the men's and women's professional squash circuit. The body operates in a similar fashion to the ATP and the WTA for tennis. The PSA's highest professional level, the PSA W ...

(PSA) Tour titles out of 19 final appearances, and earned a world ranking of No. 7, a career-best. This record of achievements has made him

's most successful male squash player in history. He retired in July 2015.

Biography

1994 – 1997

Ong Beng Hee began playing squash when he was eight – at the 17-court club his squash-enthusiast father had built in Malaysia. He first came to international attention in January 1994 when he won the British Junior Under-14 Open title in England. A year later he reached the final of the Under-16 British Open, eventually winning the Under-16 title in January 1996. Later that year, he reached the semi-finals of the 1996 World Junior Open in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, competing as a 16-year-old in an event in which most fellow competitors were at least two years older. Coached initially by his father, then the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

n national coach Jamie Hickox, Beng Hee moved to England in 1997 to work with Neil Harvey, coach to England's long-time world No 1 Peter Nicol – later moving north to work with Malcolm Willstrop.

1998 – 2001

In January 1998, he became the British Junior Under-19 Open champion, at the age of 17, and joined a select group of squash players who have claimed three

British Junior Open The British Junior Open squash championship is considered the second most prestigious junior open squash championship after the World Junior Squash Championships. It is one of the five Tier 2 events in the WSF World Junior Squash Circuit. Briti ...

titles. In August 1998, Beng Hee clinched the World Junior Open title in his second successive final, beating Egypt’s Wael El Hindi in the final in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...

, United States. He won the Milo Open in 1999 and 2000. He began the new millennium outside the top 40 but, by the end of the year, he had won his first

Asian Championship An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asia ...

, had become the first Malaysian to qualify for the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later ...

, and had gone on to make the quarter-finals. He had also secured three PSA titles, the Mega Italia Open and the Milo Open in April 2000 and, the third of these was in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

where he became the first home winner of the prestigious Malaysian Open. His year ended with a spot in the top ten, and a career-best world number 7 ranking in December 2001. In 2001, Beng Hee reached the quarter-finals of five Super Series events and was the winner of the Macau Open.

2002 – 2007

In 2002, Beng Hee made up for the disappointment of a third round exit in the men’s singles of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the ex ...

in England by winning the silver medal in the Mixed Doubles with

Nicol David Datuk Nicol Ann David (born August 26, 1983) is a retired female Malaysian professional squash player. Beginning in August 2006, David was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months, finally ceding the ranking in Septembe ...

. He won the Swedish Open title in January 2002. and the Asian Championship in May. In 2006, he won the Asian Championships in Doha. 2007's highlights include beating higher-ranked

Stewart Boswell Stewart Boswell (born 29 July 1978 in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory) is a professional squash player from Australia. Career Overview In 2003, Boswell had been ranked in the world's top-10 for two years and had reached a career-high ...

to reach the quarter-finals of the British Open in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, then, later in the year, repeating his success over the Australian in the

Qatar Classic The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupie ...

before achieving a second upset over Egyptian Wael El Hindi to become the only unseeded player to reach the last eight of the Super Series event in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Recent years

Beng Hee consolidated his presence in the middle of the top 20 in 2008 with an appearance in the final of the Kolkata International in India in February. But the biggest boost to his confidence came in his home country in March when he reached the final of the Kuala Lumpur Open for the third time – but this time beat his rival,

Mohd Azlan Iskandar Mohamad Azlan bin Iskandar (born 1 June 1982, in Kuching, Sarawak), known as Mohd Azlan Iskandar, is a Malaysian squash player. He has reached the World No. 10 ranking and won the Kuala Lumpur Open and the Malaysian Open. Career overview W ...

11–8, 15–13, 12–10 to win the title for the first time. The win endorsed his rise above Iskandar in the PSA rankings – but later took Beng Hee back into the world top ten for the first time since December 2003. After 10 first round exits in his 14 tournament appearances in 2011, Beng Hee won the 2012 Motor City Open in January defeating Hisham Ashour then World #14. In October 2013, Beng Hee won the Royal Lake Club Open, the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 event, in Kuala Lumpur. In the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, UK, an ailing Beng Hee was defeated by Kelvin Ndhlovu from Zambia. In June 2015, he became a coach with the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia. In 2022, he's named as the head coach for the US national squash programme.

Retirement

In July 2015, Beng Hee announced his retirement from competition on the PSA World Tour.

Personal life

Beng Hee has a wife Winnie and two daughters – Janelle, born in 2014 and Joelle born in 2016.

References

External links