Malaysia Cup RD2: Arnold Narrowly Avoids Upset Against Compatriot Azman

No.5 seed Rachel Arnold narrowly avoided a shock defeat against compatriot Aira Azman this morning as she overturned four match balls in the morning session on day two of the Ace Malaysia Squash Cup, PSA World Tour Bronze event.

World No.39 Arnold had won the pair’s two previous matches on the PSA Tour without dropping a game, with an average match time totalling just 20 minutes, but she was put through her paces by her lower-ranked opponent at the S2 Sports Complex here in Seremban.

Azman, the 2023 WSF World Junior Championship runner-up, fought back from 2-1 down to take the fourth game and played with no fear as she pushed her opponent all the way in a nail-biting decider. 

However, the World No.52 was unable to make the most of her match ball opportunities, with the experience of Arnold eventually proving to be the difference as she kept her composure to close out an 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 5-11, 15-13 after 57 minutes of action.

“It was intense and crazy,” Arnold said afterwards.

“Aira is a good player, so I had to keep up and stick to my game plan.

“I was trying to focus and not to lose the next point [at the end of the fifth]. I gave it my full effort and I think that worked.

“I knew she was good with her hands and I had to stay focused throughout the whole match, which was quite hard. I’ve not been here in a while, but it’s good to have people supporting us.”

Arnold will take on No.2 seed Farida Mohamed for a place in the semi-finals after Mohamed dispatched Arnold’s compatriot – 2019 runner-up Low Wee Wern – in straight games.

World No.48 Kenzy Ayman is also through after she fought back from two games down to upset No.8 seed Sana Ibrahim and her reward is a quarter-final meeting with Malak Khafagy, who upset No.4 seed Nadine Shahin.

Men’s top seed Mostafa Asal got his title challenge under way with a 3-0 win against Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue, who was celebrating his 100th PSA Tour appearance.

Tsukue impressed in the opening game as he put his speed and retrieval skills to good use, but Asal was soon able to overpower him as he stormed to an 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 win and he will take on India’s Saurav Ghosal for a place in the last four.

Ghosal booked his last eight berth after defeating Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie 11-7, 11-6, 11-4.

“It’s amazing to be here, and it’s my first time since playing the World Juniors,” said Asal.

“I’m happy to be back in Malaysia, the people here are nice and they are all loving squash.

“World No.1 is quite difficult at the moment, some of the guys have been impressive this season, especially Ali [Farag], Diego [Elias] and Paul [Coll]. I ended last season on a high but it was difficult to be out for three tournaments.

“Even if I lose it’s not a problem, I’m fixing things and my attitude and it’s going to come. I haven’t played a Bronze tournament since 2019, but I don’t have any points at the moment. Going to Grasshopper was a little bit tricky because it was a best of three and it was unfortunate what happened there.

“Karim Gawad [is the biggest threat in Malaysia]. There’s also Victor [Crouin], Saurav and Eain Yow [Ng]. There are some good names in these tournament and it’s good for the tour to play here, Singapore and Hong Kong.”

No.3 seed Victor Crouin is also through after he eased past Hong Kong’s Henry Leung and India’s Ramit Tandon will be his quarter-final opponent after getting the better of Spaniard Bernat Jaume.

Crouin said: “I was really happy to be on court, I’ve been here for three or four days and I was excited to be on court competing again.

“I’m happy with my performance, there are definitely some things to adjust for the next round, but it was a solid performance from my side and I’m looking forward to the next one.

“In all three games the scenario was similar where it was a tough game in the first couple of points and then I took a lead and it got a bit easier. He came back better in the third game and I was down at some point, so I had to recover from that and find my length.

“The very beginning of the season was amazing where I won the European Championship and then made the quarters in Paris. Then I had a missed opportunity in Qatar where I lost to Greg Lobban at match ball up. Then I lost to Miguel in the second round in Philadelphia and Abdulla in Qatar, which aren’t bad results but if I want to be in the top 10 I need to beat these guys consistently.

“I lost my confidence a bit, I had a bit of doubt and hopefully I can turn this around before the end of the year and then I can look forward to the next half of the season.”

The evening session of the Ace Malaysia Squash Cup begins at 16:00 (GMT+8). All of the action will be shown live on SQUASHTV.

For more on the Malaysia Cup, follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok  and YouTube.

Results – Men’s Second Round: Afternoon Session

[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (32m)

[5] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (36m)

[8] Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-1: 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 12-10 (53m)

[3] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-5 (30m)

Results – Women’s Second Round: Afternoon Session

Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt [4] Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-1: 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (34m)

Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt [8] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-2: 11-13, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (73m)

[5] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 3-2: 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 5-11, 15-13 (57m)

[2] Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Low Wee Wern (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-0, 11-4 (18m)