'Bring her on': Aira unfazed by Sivasangari clash in Asian Games squash

NAGOYA: Aira Azman remains unfazed by the potential clash with top seed and defending champion S. Sivasangari at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Both Malaysian competitors received first-round byes and are expected to face each other in the semi-finals if they advance through their respective draws. However, world No. 21 Aira emphasizes the importance of focusing on individual matches rather than worrying about a possible confrontation with world No. 5 Sivasangari.

She stated, "I just want to focus on one match at a time." Sivasangari will commence her tournament in the second round, facing either Liu Ziyi from China or Veera Samiyel Chanithma Sinaly from Sri Lanka. Aira will square off against the winner of the match between Pakistan's Sana Bahadar and Iran's Najmeh Boushehrizadeh. Her ultimate goal is to secure a gold medal at the Games, which also serves as an automatic qualification route to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Aira expressed her desire for the Olympics, stating, "Of course. No athlete wouldn't want to go (to the Olympics)." She highlighted her comprehensive training regimen since learning about the Games' Olympic qualifier status, noting, "My preparations have been very good. Ever since last year, once we knew it would be an Olympic qualifier, we've put in a lot of preparation."

Currently, Aira feels she is in the best shape of her career and is satisfied with her training over the past few months. She participated in two international tournaments, the London Classic and the Qatar Classic, where she lost in the second round to Egyptian world No. 1 Hania El Hammamy and exited in the opening round of the Qatar Classic, respectively. The individual squash events commence on Wednesday.