Organiser tries to save Malaysia Cup
Its organiser, ACE Sports and Management, has met the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) in a bid to keep the PSA Tour Bronze-level event going.
The first two Malaysia Cups were held in Seremban in 2023 and at the Curve Mall in Damansara last year.
For this year, the organiser has not been able to raise RM1.5 million needed to stage the Malaysia Cup, which originally was scheduled for Aug 17-23.
Ace Sports and Management director R.A. Thiagaraja said they met with KBS secretary general Dr Nagulendran Kangayatkarasu last week regarding the matter of organising the Malaysia Cup.
"It was a positive meeting with Dr Nagulendran and his team. We presented our case that we lack the funds to organise the event. We need funds from the government to help us host the event.
"We were told that we need to apply for the grant, it must be done through the national body (SRAM) by Aug 15."
But Thiagaraja said there is a snag. If the grant is approved, it must be used for the Malaysia Cup by the end of October. But the new dates scheduled by the Professional Squash Association (PSA) for the tournament is the last week of November.
"So, there is another challenge for us unless the Sports Ministry gives special approval to SRAM to use the grant for the Malaysia Cup in November.
"We hope they will approve it as we are doing all we can to have the Malaysia Cup which will benefit the upcoming players, and fans can watch their national stars perform in Malaysia."
Thiagaraja said they are still looking for sponsorship from corporations to help them organise the Malaysia Cup.
"The prize money itself is RM650,000. The other costs are accommodations, glass court, marketing, Squash TV, PSA officials, referees, transportation and food."
Squash is one of Malaysia's core sports, and with world No. 8 S. Sivasangari and world No. 12 Eain Yow expected to qualify for the 2028 Olympics, the difficulty in getting sponsorship has raised eyebrows.
The Malaysia Cup is the only major squash event in the country. How is Malaysia going to produce more talent if it can't even host the Malaysia Cup?
In the past, the Malaysia Opens have produced eight-time world champion Datuk Nicol David and world top-10 players Low Wee Wern, Ong Beng Hee, Azlan Iskandar, Sivasangari and Eain Yow.
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