Muhd Asyraf Azan & Low Wee Wern Celebrate Domestic Double In KL

Hosts Malaysia celebrated a surprise double in the NSC Series No10 championships when Muhd Asyraf Azan and Low Wee Wern lifted both titles in the international squash circuit event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Seventh seed Muhd Asyraf Azan made his breakthrough in the men's $10,000 PSA Tour event when he upset fellow countryman Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan, the No4 seed, in an 83-minute quarter-final marathon.

After overcoming England's Joe Lee - surprise quarter-final conqueror of top-seeded Hungarian Mark Krajcsak - in a 75-minute semi-final, Azan faced unseeded Frenchman Gregoire Marche in the final.

Marche was enjoying his second successive successful run in KL after reaching the semi-finals of the NSC Series No9 event a week earlier as a qualifier. This time, the 19-year-old from Aix-en-Provence reached the final after back-to-back wins over Switzerland's third seed Nicolas Mueller - last week's winner in KL - and second-seeded Pakistani Yasir Butt.

It was another lengthy battle in the final for Azan, but the 21-year-old from Kuala Lumpur ultimately prevailed 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 over Marche in 78 minutes to record his first PSA Tour title success in his maiden appearance in a final.

It was a different story for Low Wee Wern in the women's $4,000 WISPA World Tour event where the top-seeded 19-year-old from Penang collected her second Tour title in a week at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre.

But the favourite was extended to more than three games for the first time in both tournaments in the final by Japan's Chinatsu Matsui, the fifth seed who upset South Korea's No2 seed Song Sun-Mi in the quarter-finals.

Low Wee Wern recovered from a game down, however, to overcome 32-year-old Matsui 5-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 in 33 minutes to win the fourth WISPA title of her career.

Men's Final:
[7] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 (78m)

Women's Final:
[1] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [5] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 5-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 (33m)