ACE Challenger Tour 12k SFs: Ismail Upets Top Seed Azman to Reach Biggest Career Final

Hana Ismail upset top seed and home favourite Aifa Azman on semi-finals day at the ACE Challenger Tour 12k, reaching her biggest career final in the process. 

The young Egyptian – a student at the University of Birmingham – has already won four PSA Tour titles so far this year, but is now one win away from a fifth after an impressive display in the final four. 

Ismail and Azman had never met before on the PSA Tour, but the Malaysian undoubtedly started as favourite, not only playing on home soil but also sitting 59 places above her opponent in the world rankings. 

It was Ismail who made the better start, though, winning the first three points of the match to set the tone of what was to come. 

She closed out game one 11-8 with a backhand volley after Azman’s forehand had popped out from the side wall, but it was a different story in game two, which saw Azman reel off 10 points in a row, eventually winning it 11-5. 

The No.1 seed then had a 6-2 lead in game three, but couldn’t convert her advantage as Ismail turned the tide, winning the next five points to get her nose in front. 

A well-timed nick on a cross-court forehand soon brought her two game balls, and while Azman saved the first, she could not save the second, with Ismail hitting a sharp forehand kill to end the game. 

Game four then appeared to be a precession, as Ismail cruised into a 10-4 lead to bring up six match balls, but Azman was not going down without a fight. 

She won four points in a row to set Ismail’s nerves jangling, but the 19-year-old would ultimately get over the line, sending a forehand winner down the line that was beyond the desperate reach of a diving Azman. 

To get her hands on the trophy, Ismail will now have to get past another Malaysian player in the form of No.2 seed Ainaa Amani, who produced a dominant display to beat India’s Akanksha Salunkhe. 

Salunkhe had knocked out rising star Anahat Singh in the last eight, and was looking to join fellow Indian player Velavan Senthilkumar in finals day, after the men’s No.1 seed had beaten Ameeshenraj Chandaran 3-0 in the second match of the day. 

But Salunkhe was outplayed from start to finish, never winning more than seven points in any of the three games, as Amani reached her sixth career final. 

The 22-year-old will be the only Malaysian player in action on finals day, though, with Noor Zaman’s win over Addeen Idrakie ensuring that all four finalists will be from different countries. 

20-year-old Zaman is among a host of talented young stars hoping to elevate Pakistan back to the echelons of professional squash, and he earned a hard-fought 3-1 win in the semi-finals here. 

The match followed a similar pattern to that between Ismail and Azamn, as Zaman took game one before being pegged back in game two, with Idrakie winning seven points from eight to move from 7-4 down to 11-8 up. 

Zaman then took a tight third-game on a tiebreak, saving two games balls en route to a 14-12 success, before wrapping things up in the fourth as Idrakie found the tin with a backhand on match ball. 

The finals of the ACE Challenger Tour 12k get underway at 2:15pm local time on Sunday, September 7^th, streaming live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel.