North Coast Open: Unseeded Azman Reaches Semi Finals In Bumper Day Of Action

Malaysian youngster Aifa Azman caused two shocks on the second day of action at the Roberts & Morrow North Coast Open in Coffs Harbour, Australia.

The tournament is a qualifier for the World Championships, with both the triumphant man and woman receiving a place in their respective event later in the year.

The unseeded 17-year-old has given herself a great chance of doing just that, having knocked out the No.2 seed and the No.6 seed en route to the semi finals.

The Malaysian overcome home favourite Sarah Cardwell in the first round, before then dispatching New Zealander Abbie Palmer in the last eight to move through to the semis.

After losing the first game against the Aussie, Azman is yet to drop another game in the tournament, going on to beat Cardwell 3-1, before defeating Abbie Palmer 3-0 in just 15 minutes.

The other three semi finalists were all seeded to reach the last four. Ooi Kah Yan and Jessica Turnbull are safely through, while the tournament’s No.1 seed Vanessa Chu has only needed 37 minutes on court to beat her two opponents, in Thailand’s Anantana Prasertratanakul and Scotland’s Katriona Allen.

Allen had come through a huge five-gamer earlier on in the day, knocking out No.7 seed Colette Sultana after coming back from 2-1 down.

In the second round of the men’s event, Bryan Lim Tze Kang caused the big shock, as he downed New Zealand’s Lwamba Chileshe in straight games.

He advances to the quarter finals, booking his place in a clash against a fellow Malaysian, the No.3 seed Addeen Idrakie.

Elsewhere, both No.1 seed Evan Williams and No.2 seed Mohd Syafiq Kamal are safely through to the last eight after convincing wins.

The tournament favourite took just 26 minutes to defeat fellow Kiwi Zac Millar, while Kamal came back from dropping the second game against Egyptian junior Moustafa El Sirty to win in four.

The pair will face the Calvert’s in the quarter finals, as Williams sets up a clash with No.8 seed Thomas, while No.7 seed Nicholas will face Malaysia’s Kamal in the last eight.

Men’s Second Round Results
[1] Evan Williams (NZL) bt Zac Millar (NZL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (26m)
[8] Thomas Calvert (AUS) bt Atticus Kelly (USA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 13-11 (44m)
[5] Ryosei Kobayashi (JPN) bt Joel Arscott (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (29m)
[4] Angus Gillams (SCO) bt Rhys Dowling (AUS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 (18m)
[3] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) bt Chang-Wook Woo (KOR) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 (24m)
Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) bt [6] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-2 (35m)
[7] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bt Rohan Toole (AUS) 3-2: 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-1 (47m)
[2] Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) bt Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) 3-1: 11-6, 4-11, 11-5, 11-7 (37m)

Women’s First Round Results
[1] Vanessa Chu (HKG) bt Anantana Prasertratanakul (THA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-1 (16m)
Katriona Allen (SCO) bt [7] Colette Sultana (MLT) 3-2: 4-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-5, 11-6 (39m)
[5] Chloe Mesic (FRA) bt Maria Kalafatis (AUS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 (AUS)
[4] Ooi Kah Yah (MAS) bt Selena Shaikh (AUS) 3-1: 11-7, 12-14, 11-8, 11-3 (31m)
[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bt Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 3-1: 11-6, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6 (32m)
[8] Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt [WC] Pilar Etchechoury (ARG) 3-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 12-10 (28m)
[6] Abbie Palmer (NZL) bt Trace Johnson (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (14m)
Aifa Azman (MAS) bt [2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 3-1: 8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 13-11 (32m)

Women’s Quarter Final Results
[1] Vanessa Chu (HKG) bt Katriona Allen (SCO) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (21m)
[4] Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) bt [5] Chloe Mesic (FRA) 3-1: 11-5, 11-5, 10-12, 11-0 (30m)
[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bt [8] Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-2: 9-11, 13-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-5 (50m)
Aifa Azman (MAS) bt [6] Abbie Palmer (NZL) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 (15m)

Men’s Quarter Final Draw
[1] Evan Williams (NZL) v [8] Thomas Calvert (AUS)
[5] Ryosei Kobayashi (JPN) v [4] Angus Gillams (SCO)
[3] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) v Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS)
[2] Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) v [7] Nicholas Calvert (AUS)

Women’s Semi Final Draw
[1] Vanessa Chu (HKG) v [4] Ooi Kah Yan (MAS)
[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) v Aifa Azman (MAS)