KUALA LUMPUR: Fourth seed Yee Xin Ying pulled off the biggest upset of the Malaysia Games (Sukma), defeating two-time national champion Aira Azman to advance to the women's squash final in Kuching today.
The Sabahan, ranked world No. 132, overcame world No. 36 Aira from Kedah 4-11, 11-5, 12-10, 3-11, 11-9 in a thrilling 43-minute semi-final.
Xin Ying will face third seed K. Sehveetrraa of Kedah in the final tomorrow. Sehveetrraa upset second seed Yasshmita Jadish Kumar of Negri Sembilan 12-10, 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9 in 63 minutes in the other semi-final.
The 21-year-old Xin Ying was elated with her unexpected victory.
"I obviously never expected to upset reigning national champion Aira.
"She is ranked higher than me and is a good player. It is my biggest career win.
"I hope to end my impressive run by winning the gold medal tomorrow."
Confident ahead of her showdown with Sehveetrraa, Xin Ying added: "In our last encounter, I defeated Sehveetrraa in the ACE Challenger final in Terengganu last month."
Xin Ying won bronze in the team event at the 2018 Perak Sukma and silver in doubles at the 2022 KL edition.
In the men's semi-finals, second seed Joachim Chuah of FT defeated third seed Low Wa Sern of Perak 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 in 31 minutes.
The 20-year-old debutant will face top seed C. Ameeshenraj of Negri Sembilan in the final tomorrow.
World No. 129 Ameeshenraj, who trains in Bristol, defeated fourth seed Amir Amirul Azhar of Kelantan 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in the other semi-final.
Joachim, based in Connecticut, anticipates a tough final.
"Ameeshenraj definitely wants revenge after I defeated him in the quarter-finals of the recent National Championships," said world No. 164 Joachim.