Ainaa could be on fire for Squash in the Land after training with Beng Hee

Solid show: Noor Ainaa Amani Ampandi made a strong start at the Squash in the Land where she defeated 72nd-ranked Danielle Ray of Canada 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 in the first round.

PETALING JAYA: It has been a fruitful trip to the United States for Noor Ainaa Amani Ampandi as the Malaysian was able to train with former world No. 7 Ong Beng Hee at the iconic Arlen Specter US Squash Centre in Philadelphia for two weeks.

Ainaa, the world No. 59, had competed in the Squash on Fire event in Washington (Feb 14-18) and headed to Arlen Specter, the home of the US national team with Beng Hee running the fort as the head coach.

Men’s world No. 64 Addeen Idrakie, had also joined Ainaa at the two-week training under Beng Hee before the duo’s next stop on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour – Squash in the Land event – which started on Tuesday.

Ainaa, 22, had lost to world No. 12 Amina Orfi of Egypt in the second round of the Squash on Fire.

“I stayed in Philadelphia after the Squash on Fire tournament and trained with Beng Hee for two weeks. It was a good outing for me,” said Ainaa.

“We had good sparring partners as well as getting a good training programme from Beng Hee himself.”

Beng Hee has been having great success since taking up the job as US head coach in 2021 and has always welcomed Malaysians wishing to have training stints at the Arlen Specter Center with open arms.

Ainaa had a strong start at the Squash in the Land where she defeated 72nd-ranked Danielle Ray of Canada 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 in the first round on Tuesday.

However, Addeen fell 2-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11 to Perry Malik of England in a 61-minute first-round clash.

Ainaa said despite a straight-set win, the match against Ray was unpredictable as she has never played the Canadian before.

“The match was a good start although it was a little tricky since I’ve never played her before. It was quite straightforward for me,” added Ainaa.

She takes on world No. 6 Georgina Kennedy of England in her next match while world No. 16 S. Sivasangari, who received a first-round bye, plays Kenzy Eiman of Egypt in the second round today.

In the men’s event, top seed Ng Eain Yow begins his campaign against Velavan Senthilkumar of India in the second round.