PETALING JAYA: Aira Azman emerged as the hero for Malaysia’s national women’s squash team after she delivered the winning point against Hong Kong to see them successfully defend their gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday (Oct 2).
Malaysia had fielded Aifa Azman to play the first tie against Ho Tze Lok, which the Malaysian wrapped up in 17 minutes with a 11-9, 11-9, 12-10 win at the Kinjo Futo Arena.
World No. 5 Sivasangari then stepped up to take on world No. 25 Chan Sin Yuk, which proved to be a challenge.
Sivasangari dug deep to mount a comeback, but lost 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 7-11 in 42 minutes to force the deciding tie.
With the pressure weighing heavily on Aira, the 22-year-old breezed past Lee Ka Yi 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 in 16 minutes to secure the gold medal.
