At the first court from the entrance at the Bombay Gymkhana on Saturday, a match between India’s Aanchal Rathor and Malaysia’s Aira Azman was attracting a lot of interest from the gathered crowd at the Indian Junior Open Squash tournament. Both Rathor and Azman’s mothers were present, accompanied by a bunch of Malaysian supporters and the Indian player’s coach.
Among them also were three tiny girls, with their rackets and kits, sitting close to the glass door and cheering almost every point. This would have been an encouraging sight for the local player. Except, the Indian trio were there to cheer Azman.
Winning over the away fans
Every time she scored a particularly audacious point, her bevy of tiny fans would clap enthusiastically. When she finally won the match 11-1, 11-0, 11-3 and stepped out of the court, she went and shook hands with the younger players, much to their delight.
After all, they had been acknowledged by the current Asian junior champion, the former Under-13 champion, and quite evidently, the star of the tournament.
“I don’t know them but they come to watch me play and I saw them supporting me and I was very happy. I was impressed because they are from India and they are supporting me,” a smiling Azman told The Field after her match.
To anyone who watched her play, the reason for the children’s admiration was evident. The 13-year-old is swift on the court, sharp with her shots and smart with her placement. At times during the match, Rathor had no answer to her fast jabs and low flicks. While in the last game, the Indian played a couple of brilliant shots, she was no match for Azman’s superior skill.
The Malaysian teen continued this domination throughout the tournament, winning her second title at the Indian Junior Open Squash on Thursday, in the Under-15 section. In the final, the unseeded Azman beat top seed Ananya Dabke from India 13-11, 11-3, 11-5. With the exception of the first game where she struggled, Azman maintained her superior record at he Bombay Gymkhana. Incidentally, Dabke was the runner-up when Azman had won her first title here, two years back.
On court, Azman looked relaxed and confident. “I was enjoying playing there, the balls and courts are bouncy... I was thinking positive and smiling because you have to enjoy it.” But she is quick to clarify that she is not being smug. “I was not overconfident, but yeah I was confident,” she added with a smile.
A squash family
The teen from Kedah, Malaysia comes from a family dedicated to squash. She is the youngest of four siblings, all of whom have played the sport at some level. Her older sister, Aifa Azman, is a two-time junior British champion and her older brother Akid and sister Aika have played squash at the state and national level. Azman herself is coming fresh off her title-winning run at the Asian Under-13 Junior Championship in Jordan, a trophy she had won last year as well.
Azman is one of 16 players who have come down from Malaysia to take part in the ongoing Indian Junior Open Squash tournament, which is an Asian Squash Federation Platinum tournament. Apart from Azman, her compatriots Sehveetrraa Kumar and Anrie Goh clinched the Under-13 and Under-11 titles respectively, making it a Malaysian clean sweep in the girls juniors category.
The contingent of Malaysian players and the families were all together and were seen cheering each other at their matches. One such spectator was a coach travelling with another player who was just as surprised seeing the support for Azman from the first match itself. “It’s because she is that good,” he said, when asked about her domination of her match.
In the end, this is the best description of Azman’s play. She is that good at the junior level, it will be interesting to see how she progresses to the senior.
