Aifa leads women’s charge, Ivan falls in first round

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Open champion Aifa Azman put up a solid performance to clear her opening-round hurdle at the Squash on Fire Open in Washington.

The unseeded Aifa took just 31 minutes to beat Jasmine Hutton of England 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 on Wednesday.

Aifa, however, has a tough fight on her hands as she needs to beat second seed Joelle King of New Zealand next to reach the quarter-finals.

The 20-year-old Aifa, who has been in the US for the last one month, said she would not be unfazed by her opponent.

“My plan worked really well against Hutton. She’s good as she picked up a lot of shots,” said Aifa.

“First and second sets were great but I didn’t execute my game plan well in the third. I’m happy though that I got back my rhythm after being 5-8 down to win the third.

And the world No. 31 is unfazed on meeting a much higher ranked opponent.

“Joelle is the world No. 6 so I don’t think the pressure is on me.

“I know it’s going to be tough but I’m prepared mentally and physically.

“I’ve done video analysis with my coach back in Malaysia to make sure that I’ll have a really good game plan.

“I’m not afraid to play against top players, I want to enjoy and keep learning throughout my stay in the US,” added Aifa.

Aifa will also be joined by S. Sivasangari and Rachel Arnold in the second round.

National No. 1 Sivasangari beat Latvian wild card entry Ineta Mackevica 11-3, 11-8, 16-14 while Rachel prevailed 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 over Donna Lobban of Australia.

Rachel and Sivasangari take on Canadians Hollie Naughton and Danielle Letourneau, seeded seventh and eighth respectively, for places in the last eight.

Meanwhile, Ivan Yuen exited the first round in the men’s event after going down 6-11, 7-11, 6-11 to England’s George Parker.

National No. 1 Ng Eain Yow, who had a bye, will play Scotsman Greg Lobban for a place in the last eight.