Tuanku Muhriz Trophy: Unseeded Duo of Singh and Azman Victorious

After a week of surprises in Negeri Sembilan, two unseeded players got their hands on the trophies at the Challenger 10 level tournament, with India’s Abhay Singh and home favourite Aira Azman coming out victorious, the latter claiming her first Tour title.

Azman came into the women’s event as part of the 9/16 bracket, and was expected on that bracket that she would only reach the second round of the competition, but that would not be the case, as she came through, taking down the top two seeds en route to victory.

After beating wildcard Abhitha Shanraj in the opening round, Azman then took on the tournament’s top seed, Chan Yiwen, and she ate from behind to win the last two games to defeat the World No.77. The Malaysian then also went to five n the quarter finals as well, downing Egypt’s Nour Heikal to make it through to the last four of the competition.

The World No.102 overcame the challenge of compatriot Ainaa Amani in a four-game contest in the semis, before then taking down the No.2 seed, Egypt’s Salma Eltayeb in the final. She dropped the first game, but the Malaysian fought back to win in four to claim her first Tour title.

The men’s event was also won by an unseeded player, as India’s Abhay Singh came through the field to clinch his second title of the 2021-2022 season. The Indian, who currently sits at World No.160, started with a win over Malaysia’s Duncan Lee, before then overcoming the tournament’s No.7 seed, Ibrahim Elkabbani, in straight games to reach the quarter finals.

The Indian then came from behind to defeat No.4 seed Mohammad Syafiq Kamal in four games, before getting the better of another Malaysian, in Sanjay Jeeva, who had downed the tournament’s top seed. Singh defeated Jeeva in straight games to set up a meeting with No.2 seed Ivan Yuen in the final.

Singh took the early lead in the contest after winning the first game on a tie-break, but saw the current World No.54 fight back. The same pattern followed over the next two games, with Yuen recovering from going a game down for a second time, before both men had their chances in the deciding game. It went to a tie-break, and eventually it was the Indian that took it 13-1, to win after 80 minutes of action, to claim his second victory of the campaign.

Results: Tuanku Muhriz Trophy
Men’s Final
Abhay Singh (IND) bt [2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) 3-2: 13-11, 6-11, 11-5, 4-11, 13-11 (80m)

Women’s Final
Aira Azman (MAS) bt [2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 (33m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
Abhay Singh (IND) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (29m)
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Amaad Fareed (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 13-11 (38m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
Aira Azman (MAS) bt Ainaa Amani (MAS) 3-1: 1-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (32m)
[2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt [3] Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 (43m)

Men’s Quarter Finals
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [1] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 13-15, 11-7, 11-7 (87m)
Abhay Singh (IND) bt [4] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 3-1: 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 12-10 (58m)
Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt Abdallah Elmasry (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 (43m)
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [5] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 12-10, 11-8 (39m)

Women’s Quarter Finals
Aira Azman (MAS) bt Nour Heikal (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 16-14, 11-13, 3-11, 11-7 (51m)
Ainaa Amani (MAS) bt [4] Nardine Garas (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 10-12, 12-10, 11-4 (35m)
[3] Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) 3-1: 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 (43m)
[2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt [7] Yee Xin Yang (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-7 (23m)

Men’s Round Two
[1] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Mohamed Nasser (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6 (75m)
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [6] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (31m)
Abhay Singh (IND) bt [7] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 11-3 (30m)
[4] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (MAS) bt Abdelrahman Nasser (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 1-5, 11-4 (33m)
Abdallah Elmasry (EGY) bt [3] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-1: 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (66m)
Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt [8] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) 3-1: 11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 11-3 (33m)
[5] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) bt Rahul Baitha (IND) 3-1: 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 (39m)
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Amir Amirul (MAS) 3-1: 7-1, 11-5, 11-1, 11-6 (33m)

Women’s Round Two
Aira Azman (MAS) bt [1] Chan Yiwen (MAS) 3-2: 11-5, 2-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9 (33m)
Nour Heikal (EGY) bt [6] Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (24m)
Ainaa Amani (MAS) bt [8] Malak Kamal (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 6-1, 11-6, 14-12 (33m)
[4] Nardine Garas (EGY) bt Yu Jie (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 (18m)
[3] Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 3-2: 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (32m)
Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt [5] Wen Li Lai (MAS) 3-1: 11-8, 3-11, 15-13, 11-7 (38m)
[7] Yee Xin Yang (MAS) bt Sehveetrraa Kumar (MAS) 3-0: 14-12, 11-7, 11-4 (22m)
[2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt Nour Megahed (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 (20m)

Men’s Round One
Mohamed Nasser (EGY) bt [WC] Shamiel Haeyzad (MAS) 3-1: 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-6 (47m)
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt Muhammad Fayyad Hashim (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (25m)
Abhay Singh (IND) bt Duncan Lee (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (24m)
Abdelrahman Nasser (EGY) bt [WC] Ameeshenraj Chandaran (MAS) 3-1: 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 12-10 (34m)
Abdallah Elmasry (EGY) bt Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 (28m)
Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt Hafiz Zhafri (MAS) 3-1: 11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 11-4 (38m)
Rahul Baitha (IND) bt Wee Ming Hock (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (26m)
Amir Amirul (MAS) bt Elvinn Keo (MAS) 3-2: 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10 (53m)

Women’s Round One
Aira Azman (MAS) bt [WC] Abhitha Shanraj (MAS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-0, 11-6 (13m)
Nour Heikal (EGY) bt Vinikashenie Kulasegaran (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3 11-9 (20m)
Ainaa Amani (MAS) bt [WC] Chen Yu Ng (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (12m)
Yu Jie (MAS) bt Maisara Azlan (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 (25m)
Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) bt Shasmithaa Nityanandan (MAS) 3-1: 2-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 (27m)
Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt Aika Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (17m)
Sehveetrraa Kumar (MAS) bt Noor Ul Huda (PAK) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (14m)
Nour Megahed (EGY) bt Choo Yi Jie (MAS) 3-0: 11-2, 13-11, 11-3 (19m)