Ong Beng Hee

{{Infobox squash player

| name = Ong Beng Hee

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| fullname = Ong Beng Hee

| nickname =

| country = {{MAS}}

| residence = Doha, Qatar

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1980|2|4}}

| birth_place = Penang, Malaysia

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{convert|1.78|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|72|kg|lb}}

| turnedpro = 1995

| retired = 2015

| plays = Right Handed

| coach = Jamshed Gul

| racquet = Dunlop

| website =

| event = Men's singles

| years_active =

| highest_ranking = No. 7

| date_of_highest_ranking = December, 2001

| current_ranking =

| date_of_current_ranking =

| played =

| titles = 15

| finals = 24

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{MAS}} }}

| updated = January 2015

}}

Ong Beng Hee ({{zh|s=王平喜|p=Wáng Píngxǐ|poj=Ông Bêng-hí}}; born 4 February 1980) is a Malaysian former professional squash player and coach.https://event.tvb.com/hksquash2008/m10.php {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} Between 2000 and 2006, he won four consecutive Asian Championship titles. In 2002 and 2006 he won gold medals at the Asian Games. He won 11 Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour titles out of 19 final appearances, and earned a world ranking of No. 7, a career-best. This record has made him Malaysia'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.{{cite web |title=Future of Malaysian squash rosy with good showing at British Juniors |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Squash/2014/01/07/Future-of-Malaysian-squash-rosy-with-good-showing-at-British-Juniors/ |website=thestar.com |date=7 January 2014 |publisher=Star Media Group |access-date=23 August 2015}} Later that year, he reached the semi-finals of the 1996 World Junior Open in Egypt,{{cite web |title=Ong Bang Hee |url=http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/superseries/superseries_org/ong_beng_hee.htm |website=squashplayer.co.uk |publisher=Squash Player |access-date=23 August 2015}} competing as a 16-year-old in an event where most fellow competitors were at least two years older. Coached initially by his father, then the Canadian Malaysian 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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}

=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 titles. In August 1998, Beng Hee clinched the World Junior Open title{{cite web |title=Ong Beng Hee |url=http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/cwc/benghee.htm |website=squahplayer.co.uk |publisher=Squashplayer |access-date=22 August 2015}} in his second successive final, beating Egypt’s Wael El Hindi in the final in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.{{cite web |title=Roll of Honour |url=http://www.worldsquash.org/ws/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/000000_ROLL-OF-HONOUR.pdf |website=worldsquash.org |publisher=World Squash |access-date=23 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035148/http://www.worldsquash.org/ws/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/000000_ROLL-OF-HONOUR.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }} 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, had become the first Malaysian to qualify for the British Open, 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 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.[http://www.psa-squash.com/entry/ranking.php?player=T00161 PSA Player Profile][https://www.squashinfo.com/player-23 Player Profile at SquashInfo] 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 in England by winning the silver medal in the Mixed Doubles with Nicol David.{{cite web |title=Shocks Continue in Mumbai |url=https://psaworldtour.com/news/view/164 |website=psaworldtour.com |publisher=PSA |access-date=22 August 2015}} 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 included beating higher-ranked Stewart Boswell to reach the quarter-finals of the British Open in Manchester,{{cite web |title=Dunlop British Open 2007 |url=http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/britishopen/british_open-07/#mens%20draw |website=squashplayer.co.uk |publisher=Squash Player |access-date=23 August 2015}} then, later in the year, repeating his success over the Australian in the Qatar Classic{{cite web |title=Qatar Draw |url=http://www.squashsite.co.uk/qatarclassic2007-draw.htm |website=squashsite.co.uk |publisher=SquashSite |access-date=23 August 2015}} 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.

=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 11–8, 15–13, 12–10 to win the title for the first time.{{cite web |title=KL Open 2008 |url=http://www.squashsite.co.uk/kl08.htm |website=squashsite.co.uk |publisher=SquashSite |access-date=23 August 2015 |archive-date=18 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918041951/http://www.squashsite.co.uk/kl08.htm |url-status=dead }} 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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} 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.{{cite web |title=Beng Hee Battles to Major Career Title in Detroit |url=http://www.squash999.com/365/archives/3300 |website=squash999.com |publisher=Squashsite |access-date=21 August 2015}} In October 2013, Beng Hee won the Royal Lake Club Open, the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 event, in Kuala Lumpur.{{cite web |title=Pearson Boost Makes Beng Hee Champion |url=https://psaworldtour.com/news/view/450 |website=squash999.com |publisher=PSA |access-date=22 August 2015}} In the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, UK, an ailing Beng Hee was defeated by Kelvin Ndhlovu from Zambia.{{cite web |title=Day One at the Commonwealth Games |url=http://www.worldsquash.org/ws/news/14330 |website=worldsquash.org |publisher=World Squash |access-date=22 August 2015}} In June 2015, he became a coach with the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia.{{cite web |title=Call Ong Beng Hee a Coach From Now |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Squash/2015/06/01/Call-Ong-Beng-Hee-a-coach-from-now/ |website=thestar.com |date=June 2015 |publisher=Star Media Group Berhad |access-date=21 August 2015}} In 2022, he was 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.{{cite web |title=Malaysian Star Beng Hee Retires |url=https://psaworldtour.com/news/view/1979 |website=psaworldtour.com |publisher=PSA |access-date=21 August 2015}}

Personal life

Beng Hee and his wife Winnie have two daughters – Janelle, born in 2014 and Joelle born in 2016.{{cite web |title=Malaysian ace celebrates new arrival with win over Ibrahim |url=http://squashmad.com/breaking-news/daddy-cool-ong-beng-hee-inspired-in-el-gouna/ |website=squashmad.com |date=11 April 2014 |publisher=Squash Mad |access-date=21 August 2015}}