Zainal abidin first wife

SINGAPORE – A chance encounter with squash after skipping football training almost 50 years ago turned out to be life-changing for Zainal Abidin, who went on to become one of the greatest players Singapore has ever produced.

Fresh off the completion of his first year of national service (NS), the then year-old became increasingly disinterested in football as he did not see a future for himself in the sport and started skipping training sessions with the police team.

One day, after being alerted by a friend that his football coach was looking for him, Zainal hid in a nearby building, which happened to house two squash courts, at the police academy.

Coincidentally, a tournament was taking place at the time, and as he stood among the spectators for over three hours to avoid bringing attention to himself, his interest was piqued by the on-court action.

Soon, he started playing the game with a warped, wooden racket that he found in a bin at the academy, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Zainal, now 67, still vividly remembers that incident. He said: “That was a fantastic decision that I made, it changed my life.

“My life became very different, very interesting, I met a lot of people and made many friends it opened many doors for me.”

His sporting journey is detailed in a children’s book titled Juara (champion in Malay) which was launched in early December and tells the story of a kampung boy who placed Singapore on the global squash map.

Commissioned by the Singapore Squash Rackets Association to mark the conferment of the Lifetime Achievement Award on Zainal in , the page book was written by Rilla Melati Bahri and illustrated by Diah Chakraborty.

Gambar zainal abidin hassan Archived from the original on 12 April Di tahun-tahun terakhirnya sebelum tamat kontrak, beliau berubah semula dengan rakan pasukannya dahulu, Dollah Salleh , sebagai pengendali bersama pasukan Pahang. Bagi Zainal lagi, kegagalan jentera pertahanannya menyerap tekanan daripada pasukan lawan telah mencetuskan keadaan kelam-kabut di kawasan kotak penalti pasukannya. Beliau bersara dari arena bola sepak pada ketika berusia 38 tahun.

It contains details of how Zainal spearheaded Singapore’s rise as a squash powerhouse in the s, alongside other players, including Peter Hill and Mah Li Lian.

During that golden period, the Republic, ranked as high as No. 6 in the world, ended a creditable sixth in the men’s World Team Championship in before notching two more top finishes (seventh in and ninth in ).

Besides the Sportsman of the Year award, the time national champion also won multiple SEA Games golds, nine East Asian Squash Championship titles and the Japan Open thrice.

At the age of 41, Zainal and doubles partner Hill also made it to the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games.

Zainal, who now does private coaching and runs a business building squash courts in the region, hopes the book will serve not just as a beacon for the niche sport, but also be a record of Singapore’s sporting history.

Citing Singapore’s first Olympic medallist Tan Howe Liang, who died on Dec 3 aged 91, as an example, Zainal noted that the former weightlifter’s efforts and achievements only received the recognition it deserved in recent years.

He said: “Hopefully, the people in Singapore will know there are legendary squash players, not because I want to be known.

“Like how we should recognise Tan Howe Liang.

“It’s a bit too late (to only recognise his contributions after his death), years after he achieved them.

“So someone has to put it in (some form of record) and everyone has (a chance) to look at it.”

Over the course of the conversations with him and his wife Anna while writing the book, which is mostly in English with the occasional Malay word, Rilla found herself drawn to Zainal’s experiences and his determination to fulfil his ambitions.

She hopes the story will have an impact on future generations, saying: “Zainal’s story might be a springboard to get the attention of young Malay boys and girls to get acquainted with the sport.

“Seeing a hero from their own community is useful in building this bridge My vision was clear – to inspire as many children as possible to never give up on their dreams, the way Zainal believed in himself.

“I also feel that with this story, Singaporeans can see that we are able to produce sporting giants like Zainal and we should produce more.”

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