Aifa Extends Fairytale Run At Malaysian Open

Malaysian teen sensation Aifa Azman has kept her fairytale run going after storming into the final of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

The 19-year-old wildcard delivered a rousing performance as she took out world No 19 and fifth seed Danielle Letourneau of Canada 11-4, 11-7, 5-11, 11-3 in the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Bronze event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre.

It was a stunning performance from the world No 69 who came into the match high on confidence after claiming three scalps throughout the week already.

The wildcard entrant had a blazing start as she raced into a 2/0 lead before Letourneau pegged her back by taking the third game.

Aifa was however not shaken and she duly refocused and came back firing in the fourth to seal the win after 32 minutes.

The win is Aifa's second scalp over a top 20 player and she also reached her first ever Professional Squash Association Bronze event final.

"I'm really at a loss for words to make it into the final," said a jubilant Aifa.

"I told my mom it would be hard for her to come and watch me because she always watches all my finals and this is a Bronze event instead.

"But I'm so glad to reach my biggest final and I'm definitely very much looking forward to it.

"It's my first win over a top 20 player this year and this gives me the confidence and motivation to want to push harder.

"Now that I'm in the final, I'm definitely going to go for it since the pressure is not on me anyway," added Aifa.

The Kedahan takes on world No 8 Salma Hany of Egypt for the title. It will be Azman's fifth successive meeting with a player she has never faced before!

Top seed Salma powered through with an 11-1, 11-8, 11-5 win over fourth seed Hollie Naughton of Canada.

"I'm very pleased with the win as Hollie is a strong opponent and I needed to stick to my game plan," said Salma.

"It's nice to be in the final here. I remembered I was here eight years ago and I won a 5k event and I had hoped then to be able to play in a final on the Nicol David Arena.

"It definitely means a lot to be in the final this time but I'm taking it as another match and will prepare well for it because I know Aifa has been playing really well."

In the men's event, second seed Saurav Ghosal of India was too good on the day as he downed France's Victor Crouin 12-10, 11-9, 11-9.

"I think Victor has been playing really well this week. He's found good length on court and he made life difficult for me," said Saurav, who has yet to drop a game in the event.

"I had to figure things out along the way and I did that for the most part. Maybe it was a little bit of experience as well as I have been on tour a long time and I have played many matches against the top guys."

Saurav meets world No 12 and top seed Miguel Rodriguez in the final.

The Colombian Cannonball dented home hopes by beating Malaysian world No 18 Ng Eain Yow 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.

"I wanted to do my best against Yow. He's a top player and he's got the crowd behind him as well. It will be tough against Saurav as well because he is a top player who has been consistent for many years. We're both in our best shape and I'm looking forward to doing well in my first final here," said Rodriguez.