Malaysian Trio Progress to Main Draw in Kuala Lumpur

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All but one of the qualifying spots in the main draw of the Women’s Malaysian Squash Tour II, PSA W5 tournament have been taken up by home players after Andrea Lee, Aifa Azman and Nur Aliah Izzati all won in the final qualifying round.

Lee came up against South Korea’s Min Ju Park in her match and came through a tightly-contested opening game courtesy of a tie-break victory to go ahead. Lee further exerted her dominance in the second and carried her momentum into the third game to close out a 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 victory – securing a place in her first PSA World Tour main draw of 2016.

There, she will face Australian number four seed Lakeesha Rarere as her quest to claim a quarter-final berth for the first time in 18 months continues.

Azman sealed her main draw participation thanks to a routine 3-0 win against Catur Yuliana. Game one, which Azman edged, was the closest of the lot but the Malaysian soon went up a gear to take the result in straight games. She will go head-to-head with Pakistan’s Sadia Gul in round one of the main draw.

Elsewhere, Izzati followed in her compatriots leads by storming to victory over fellow Malaysian Lai Wen Li. A dominant display from Izzati was enough to give her the win in three and set up a main draw meeting with Norwegian second seed Lotte Eriksen.

Japan’s Satomi Watanabe prevented Ooi Kah Yan from making it a Malaysian quartet after dispatching her in a comfortable win and she will meet Sammer Anjum as she looks to continue her progress so far.

Results – Final Qualifying Round: Women’s Malaysian Squash Tour II 2016
[1] Andrea Lee (MAS) bt [6] Min Ju Park (KOR) 3-0: 12-10, 11-6, 11-9
[L] Nur Aliah Izzati (MAS) bt [L] Lai Wen Li (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-7
[L] Aifa Azman (MAS) bt [4] Catur Yuliana (INA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-2
[2] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [7] Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-5

Main Draw – First Round
[2] Lotte Eriksen (NOR) v [Q] Nur Aliah Izzati (MAS)
[Q] Aifa Azman (MAS) v [5] Sadia Gul (PAK)
[7] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) v Zoe Foo Yuk Han (MAS)
[Q] Andrea Lee (MAS) v [4] Lakeesha Rarere (AUS)
[3] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v Chan Yiwen (MAS)
Noor Shadira (MAS) v [6] Aika Azman (MAS)
[8] Sammer Anjum (PAK) v [Q] Satomi Watanabe (JPN)
Nazihah Hanis (MAS) v [1] Vanessa Raj (MAS)