Aira determined to retain Under-15 title in British Juniors

PETALING JAYA: There can be a lot of pressure being the top seed in a major junior squash tournament at only 14 years of age, but Aira Azman is ready to live up to her billing.

The Kedahan is keeping calm as she is defending her Under-15 title at the prestigious British Junior Open in Birmingham, England.

She claimed the title in January last year in a dramatic battle in the final which saw her Egyptian opponent Sana Ibrahim disqualified after she vomitted on the court – a violation of the World Squash Federation (WSF)s Rule 14 – in the fifth game.

Aira took the first two sets but allowed the Egyptian to win the next two to leave the score at 11-8, 11-5, 10-12, 6-11. Then came the incident when the Malaysian was leading 4-2 in the fifth set.

Yesterday, Aira cruised into the second round of the British Junior Open with an emphatic 11-1, 11-1, 11-2 victory over home crowd favourite Sophie Hill in the Round of 64.

She will now take on another English lass, Isabel Mccullough for a place in the third round.

Aira’s aim is to make it two titles in consecutive years.

“I'm going to give my very best and not give up till I'm holding on to the Cup,” said Aira.

“My preparation has been good leading up to this tournament. It's a lot of pressure being the top seed but I feel fine going into it.”

Aira competed at the CIMB Grand Final and the REDtone Kuala Lumpur Junior Open and performed well against girls older than her in the Under-19 category to finish in fourth place of both events.

And now she wants to get back to her winning ways in England.

“It was good playing against girls older than me and I believe I am better prepared for the British Junior Open after that.”