KUALA LUMPUR: After last week's Australian Open, national women's squash champion Aira Azman's world ranking moved up three places to No. 41.
This is the Kedahan's highest ranking since turning professional in 2020.
Recently, Aira was included in the Sports Ministry's Fast Track programme which has the mission of developing athletes between the ages of 16 and 25 to fight for gold at the 2028 Olympics.
Aira reached the Australian Open quarter-finals before losing to Egypt's world No. 11 and eventual winner Salma Hany.
Aira said: "It's not easy but I'm happy with my performance on the tour. I will go step by step in gaining experience."
Her next two tournaments are the El Gouna International in Egypt from April 19-26 and World Championships in Cairo from May 9-17.
National coach Andrew Cross said Aira's world ranking improvement is the result of her hard work.
National No. 1 S. Sivasangari and national No. 2 Rachel Arnold maintained their world rankings at No. 16 and No. 28 respectively.
Aira's sister Aifa moved up one rung to world No. 34 while Yasshmita Jadis Kumar rose two rungs to No. 73. Chan Yiwen went up 13 rungs to No. 74 after upsetting Hong Kong's No. 44 Lee Ka Yi in the Australian Open second round.
But national men's No. 1 Ng Eain Yow dropped two rungs to No. 22 while Addeen Idrakie is still ranked 65th. The United States-based Sanjay Jeeva rose five rungs to a career best 75th.
