Double blow for Singapore squash before SEA Games with exit of head coach, scholarship holder
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Cassandra Ong (right) practices with then-national head coach Jamie Hickox at the Kallang Squash Centre ahead of the 2024 Singapore Squash Open.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Follow topic:
- Singapore Squash Rackets Association (SSRA) faces setbacks with head coach Jamie Hickox's departure and Cassandra Ong quitting her Marigold scholarship.
- SSRA cited injury and difficulty adjusting to training as reasons for Ong, a promising squash player, ending her scholarship after one year.
- Despite the financial loss, SSRA remains open to supporting talented athletes and aims to improve its selection process for future scholarships.
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SINGAPORE – The Singapore Squash Rackets Association (SSRA) has been dealt a double whammy ahead of the Dec 9-20 SEA Games, with head coach Jamie Hickox and SSRA-Marigold Podium Scholar Cassandra Ong both parting ways with the organisation.
At end-April, Hickox quit after nearly 13 months in the role
Three months later, Ong ended her three-year scholarship
SSRA general manager Alex Wan told The Straits Times: “For us at the association, we always believe that there’s no point forcing something on to her if her heart is not there.
“When she first played in the Singapore Squash Open (November 2024), she was very unknown, and she put up a really good performance which caught the attention of many people.
“I think for many, it was like, ‘Wow, there is a Singaporean who is that good’, and that kind of lifted the spirits among the squash community quite a bit.”
Ong, who declined to comment when contacted, was born in Singapore but lived in California in the US, where she was part of the squash team at Stanford University.
She had quit the sport in 2022 to focus on her studies, but her uncle persuaded her to return and sent her curriculum vitae to Sport Singapore (SportSG), which passed it to the SSRA.
Among her achievements were the 2016 US West Coast Regional Championships girls’ Under-19 title, and runner-up spots at the 2011 US Junior Open (U-11) and 2017 Junior Championships (U-17).
Upon seeing her credentials, the national sports association invited Ong to train with the national team and she proved to be “very impressive”, noted Wan.
Ong and national men’s player Jerome Aw were then awarded the Marigold scholarship, which provided a monthly four-figure stipend to aid them in their bid to turn professional.
As part of their contractual obligations, they had to train to go pro, compete on the Professional Squash Association Tour and represent Singapore when called upon.
Of the scholarship, Wan said: “It’s a brand new scholarship, she was the first recipient, and for us it was for someone whom we felt that the squash standard was good enough, and someone who was really willing to go full-time.
“In Singapore, we do not have a full-time squash athlete, so we wanted to use this to kick-start this programme and hopefully attract more people to want to try it out.
“We support all their tournaments financially and the athletes also get a monthly stipend to support their day-to-day finances… It’s something that is quite in line with what the (SportSG) Spex programmes are paying.”
In May, Ong returned to Singapore to compete at the Asian championships and Asian doubles championships, and attended a training camp.
Two months later, she informed the SSRA of her decision to quit the sport.
Wan said: “She had an old injury in her Achilles, and it acted up. And I think she couldn’t play the few events that she came back for, and that contributed (to it).
“In our conversations, she did say that she’s not very used to this. Her body is still not used to the amount of training and competitions.”
Despite the association spending a “five-figure sum” on Ong, Wan remained optimistic for the future of its scholarship programme. He added: “I don’t think it will affect future decisions… We are always open to supporting people or athletes who have the calibre, the mindset and the talent to want to go full-time and prove to us that they are willing to put in the hours in training.
“But we definitely have quite a lot of learning points from this experience and I think we are more equipped to make better judgments moving forward.”
Weighing in on the departure of 61-year-old Hickox – who joined in April 2024 and previously coached the Malaysia national team – Wan did not elaborate on the reasons but noted that the association is “disappointed that Jamie did not work out for longer given his contributions over the year”.
He added: “With Gurshan and Chua Man Tong, they bring a wealth of experience themselves and are fully capable of leading the SEA Games squad. We now also have Lukasz Kondratowicz, an experienced coach from Poland in the team.
“Together with Lawrence Kwan, the entire team has been working well together to balance out the load.”
Hickox did not respond to ST’s request for comment.
Singapore will be represented by a seven-member squad at the SEA Games in Thailand in the men’s and women’s singles and the under-21 men’s and mixed jumbo doubles.
