THE long layoff from competitive squash has fired up Aifa Azman's appetite as she targets a winning return at the SRAM PSA 1 meet, which starts on Friday.
The 19-year-old, just like most of the other Malaysian players, has hardly played since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March last year.
The Kedah-born's only tournament in the last 12 months was the National Championships in October when she gave national No 2 S. Sivasangari a fight before going down in five games in the semi-finals.
On the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour, Aifa's last event was the SRFI Indian Tour in Jaipur last February, where she reached the semi-finals.
The World No 64 is eager to get back on the court as she aims to win her first PSA Challenger 10 event.
"It feels great to be back training after a month or so without any squash due to the Movement Control Order (MCO)," said Aifa.
"Going for a month without any squash has made me more motivated to train harder.
"I've been working on improving my game, and it has been improving, although I still need some match-play preparations before the tournament.
"I'm definitely very excited as it has been more than a year without a PSA event for me, and I want to get back to improving my rankings.
"I also want to win my first PSA 10 event, and I'm going to go out there and give it my best shot."
The third seed, who received a first-round bye, plays Goh Zhi Xuan or N. Sashmithaa in the second round.
She could also be in line to meet younger sister Aira in the quarter-finals, which could be a first PSA meeting between the siblings.
National No 1 Low Wee Wern and Rachel Arnold are the first and second seeds.