'RECOGNISE OUR GREATS'

Squash icon Zainal stresses importance of telling stories of sporting success

- Kimberly Kwek

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, the then 18-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.