The 18-year-old player is on the right track to emulate the country’s squash queen, Nicol David who was the last Malaysian player to secure the women’s title as she got past Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt 9-2, 9-4, 9-2 in the 2001 edition in Penang.

Aira advanced to her first final of the tournament by downing the second seed of the tournament, Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt, 12-10, 11-7,11-8.

Waiting for Aira, who won the Under-15 title in 2018, are defending champion Amina Orfi or Malak Khafagy from Egypt who will compete in another semifinal match today.

Commenting after the match, Aira said the gameplan arranged by her coach Andrew Cross really helped her to advance to the final tomorrow.

“It wasn’t easy but I gave my best just now. (It will be a) tough match tomorrow, I just want to play my best,” she was quoted as saying in a statement shared by the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia.

Aira will be playing in the final round tomorrow at noon Malaysian time.