Annie hopes to add the elusive Asian Games gold medal to her trophy case

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong squash player Annie Au (pic) still harbours hopes of bagging an elusive Asian Games singles gold medal at the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China.

The closest the 30-year-old came to winning the gold medal was in the 2010 Games in Guangzhou, China but fell in the final hurdle to Malaysia’s squash legend Nicol David.

Malaysians continued to be her nemesis in the Asiad as she lost to Low Wee Wern in the final four in 2014 ( Incheon, South Korea) and then to S. Sivasangari in the last eight in 2018 (Jakarta, Indonesia).

The world No. 11, however, did find success in the team event when Hong Kong defeated India to win the team gold in Indonesia.

Although she has hit her 30s, she is still hungry for success in the individual event.

“It was disappointing after losing to Sivasangari last year but she played really well at the Games and besides her there are a lot of up and coming players in Asia that I have to be wary of,” said Annie.

“I still want another shot at the next Asian Games but in sports sometimes you never know if you will get injured or something else could happen in the next few years. So I hope I can stay fit and healthy till then,” she added.

For now, however, Annie has her sights on a second Asian Individual Championship title at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil here.

She comes on the back of having won the Macau Open title last month when she overcame Wee Wern in the final.

In yesterday rematch Annie, who ousted teammate Liu Tsz Ling 12-10, 12-10, 11-5 on Friday, was an easy winner against Wee Wern winning 11-7, 12-10, 11-3.

“It’s very difficult to win this event because I have suffered losses before to the seeded players so every match is different and hard to predict,” she said.

“Of course it will be good if I can get a second title but for me now the most important things is I continue to play well whether I win or lose.”

Annie won her first Asian title by beating Wee Wern in the final in Islamabad in 2013.