KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — After a disappointing showing in the individual events, the national women’s junior squash team have gained a chance to make amends in the team final after defeating Hong Kong 2-0 at the National Squash Centre, Bukit Jalil today.
Chan Yiwen delivered the opening point with a decisive 11-2, 11-3, 11-0 win over Kirstie Ko Yui Wong.
In the second match, Aifa Azman was having a ‘dejavu’ moment which caused her a hard time defeating Chan Sin Yuk 11-2, 6-11, 14-12, 13-15, 11-9.
“This semi-final reminds me of the individual semi-finals. I was 9-2 behind in the fourth set and 9-4 in the fifth set; it reminds me of my match against Janna. However, I overcame the fear and won the fifth set,” Aifa said.
Aifa said she will come back stronger and be more focused in the first team match against Hania El Hammamy tomorrow.
Meanwhile, national assistant head coach Andrew Cross is pleased with the team’s performance.
“Aifa probably just tensed up a little bit; she stopped focusing on what she should be doing. So it’s a little lesson for her, but we will take it into tomorrow and we will be ready for the final,” he said.
Cross said he is optimistic for the final against Egypt and sees this as a challenge for the national team to play against the best.
“It is good that we are producing (a good team) every two years and we want that continuation going forward every two years and we made it into the finals,” he said.
The national team, who are seeded second, will be up against defending champions Egypt in the final tomorrow.
Malaysia emerged as runners-up twice, back in 2001 and 2007.
Semi-final results:
Egypt beat England 3-0
Malaysia beat Hong Kong 2-0 — Bernama
