Azman & Singh Win Tuanku Muhriz Trophy Titles

Aira Azman and Abhay Singh have won the first 15k titles of the season, beating Chan Sin Yuk and Tsz Kwan Lau respectively on finals day at the The Tuanku Muhriz Trophy. 

Hong Kong’s Chan had staged a sensational fightback to beat Azman’s older sister Aifa in yesterday’s semi-finals, saving multiple match balls en route to an epic 3-2 win, taking the deciding tiebreak 14-12. 

Her reward for that triumph was a final showdown with Malaysian national champion Aira Azman, who was targeting a third PSA Squash Tour title. 

Like Chan, Azman had also come through her semi-final in five games, beating compatriot Ainaa Amani, with action having moved from the traditional courts to the glass for semi-finals day. 

All eyes were once again on the glass for finals day, and playing in front of a home crowd, Azman lived up to the billing, needing only three games to get her hands on the trophy, albeit three hard-fought games, winning 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 in just under half an hour. 

That match was followed by the men’s final between fourth seed Singh and top seed Lau, who were facing off for the first time on the PSA Squash Tour. 

Like both women’s finalists, Singh had needed five games to win his semi-final, outlasting Velavan Senthilkumar in a tense all-Indian duel, while Lau had beaten Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie 3-1. 

Singh had also gone to five in his quarter-final victory over Tang Ming Hong, any perhaps that extra workload played its part in the early exchanges, as Lau took a one-game lead. 

The Indian national champion then found himself 6-4 down in game two, but started to find his rhythm to turn things around, reeling off four points in a row before clinching the game on a stroke a few rallies later. 

The tempo remained high throughout game three, with Singh finding good length to combat Lau’s high-octane style and impressive retrievals, and it would be Singh who came out on top, clinching a tiebreak 12-10 when a Lau backhand found the tin to end another lengthy rally.

A fast start to game four then took the match away from Lau, as Singh raced into a 10-4 lead to give himself six match balls, but he only needed one, firing a backhand volley winner down the line on the following rally. 

Results: 
Aira Azman (MAS) bt Sin Yuk Chan (HKG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 
Abhay Singh (IND) bt Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) 3-1: 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-4