Singapore squash aiming to bounce back with SEA Games gold
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Jerome Aw (right) en route to beating fellow Singaporean Aaron Liang in the men's individual semi-finals at the Nov 6-9 Marigold-SGCC Singapore Challenger.
PHOTO: Frank Foo/Singapore Squash
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- Singapore's seven-athlete squash team, with five debutants, are targeting one gold, one silver and two bronzes at the upcoming SEA Games.
- Jerome Aw, a former badminton player, achieved his best professional finish at the Marigold-SICC Singapore Challenger after losing in the men's individual final.
- Aaron Liang, balancing squash with full-time work, is also aiming for a SEA Games medal, crediting his improvement to training under former world No. 1 David Palmer.
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SINGAPORE – When Jerome Aw made the switch from badminton to squash 10 years ago because his secondary school offered only the latter then, he found himself picking up the new racket sport quite easily with his fine hand-eye coordination, but struggled with shuttling about in the enclosed court.
To improve his fitness, he put in extra conditioning work on top of his three school and two club training sessions each week. On two days, he would run at conversational pace for 30 to 45 minutes before the 7.30am assembly at Fairfield Methodist School and add an interval session of six to eight laps of 300m on another day.
Not only did he find himself lasting the pace, the 22-year-old Singaporean told The Straits Times: “Ironically, now I’m known in the circuit for my superior fitness.”
His hard work paid off as he was scouted by the Singapore Squash Rackets Association (SSRA) as early as 2016 and made the national team in 2019. These days, with his fitness at a solid level, he has been working on his technique, tactics and mental game.
On Nov 9, world No. 151 Aw achieved another breakthrough when he finished second in the Marigold-SGCC Singapore Challenger men’s individual event.
Despite a 3-0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-8) loss to Hong Kong’s 144th-ranked Tang Ming Hong in the final at the Serangoon Gardens Country Club, he achieved his best finish on the professional circuit.
Aw said: “I’m very happy with my consistency of playing standard the past week and it goes to show my training is paying off.
“I’m currently juggling full-time training with my studies. I’m competitive and I don’t like to lose, so I want to see how far I can go in Asia. And if I can be in the top 100 in the world ranking by the time I finish university, I will give professional squash a shot.”
The second-year Nanyang Technological University sport science and management undergrad is aiming to make another final on his SEA Games debut at the Dec 9-20 meet in Thailand, with teammate Aaron Liang also eyeing a podium spot after posting encouraging results recently.
Before claiming a bronze following his Singapore Challenger semi-final loss to Aw, the 25-year-old won his first national men’s open title
On Nov 1, he also beat Aw to win the Marigold 2025 SGSquash PSA Satellite 3 men’s individual title.
Currently working as an investment strategist, Liang credited his improvement to training under former world No. 1 David Palmer while he was pursuing a degree in hotel administration finance and financial management services at Cornell University in the United States from August 2022 to May 2025.
World No. 279 Liang, who picked up a mixed team silver and men’s team bronze at the 2019 SEA Games, said: “Every time I bear the national flag, I’m reminded of the people who’ve supported me over the years, especially my family, coaches and teammates who have made this journey possible.
“Preparation for the Games has been intense, especially while managing a full-time job, but I’ve enjoyed the process. It’s been a test of discipline and balance, and I feel grateful to have the opportunity to give my best once again for Singapore and those who believe in me.
“I’m happy with how my progress has been over the past few weeks, especially reaching the semi-finals of the PSA Challenger 3 and winning the PSA Satellite event. Both performances were encouraging steps forward and positive signs that I’m headed in the right direction.
“I hope to bring home a medal, but I’m equally focused on controlling what I can by staying consistent with training, prioritising recovery and keeping my mindset steady. Over the next few weeks, it’s all about fine-tuning the details and trusting the work that’s been put in.”
SSRA general manager Alex Wan said it will field seven athletes, including five debutants, across the men’s and women’s individual, men’s Under-21 jumbo doubles and mixed Under-21 jumbo doubles at the Games.
He added that they are aiming for one gold, one silver and two bronzes, and will be training with sparring partners from Malaysia and Australia to prepare for the biennial Games. Squash last featured in the 2019 edition in the Philippines, with Singapore winning two silvers and three bronzes.
In 2017, they came back from Kuala Lumpur with three golds, two silvers and five bronzes.
National coach Gurshan Singh said: “The team has been training very hard and we actually moved the entire SEA Games squad training from the Kallang Squash Centre to a separate location after Chinese New Year so we can concentrate better. We are thankful to the Singapore Island Country Club for letting us use their facilities for this.
“We won the SEA Cup mixed team championships in July, finishing ahead of our two biggest rivals Malaysia and Philippines, and last weekend, our top men’s players Jerome Aw and Aaron Liang produced best-ever finishes on the professional tour.
“Our doubles players have also improved leaps and bounds over the last few months. The U-21 category threw us off a little, but we are happy with how our pairs are shaping up.”
