'Unknown' Ong can be S'pore's surprise package

Born in Singapore but raised in California, Cassandra Ong's budding squash career in the United States came to a halt when she quit in 2022 due to personal reasons.

- Melvyn Teoh

Then an engineering undergraduate at Stanford University, she spent the next two years focusing on her studies.

Her return to the sport in 2024 can be credited in part to her uncle, who persuaded her that it "would be a waste" to quit.

He even sent her curriculum vitae to Sport Singapore (SportSG), which forwarded it to the Singapore Squash Rackets Association (SSRA) in July 2022.

Among her accolades 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. She went on to beat her peers, despite having stopped training for a while.

SSRA general manager Alex Wan said: "She was in Singapore in August (2022) and came to national training with our juniors, and blew us away as she beat all our top juniors with ease.