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Squash: Easy start to Nicol's quest

Ong Beng Hee will face England’s James Willstrop today.
Ong Beng Hee will face England’s James Willstrop today.

NICOL David was off to a comfortable start in search of a third consecutive Hong Kong Open title in the first round yesterday.

The World No 1 needed only 22 minutes to notch an 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 win over New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes.

Nicol, who is looking for her 10th Wispa Tour title of the year, has now gone unbeaten for 49 matches and will reach the half-century mark with a win over Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu in the second round today.

Rebecca is hoping for a better outcome in her fifth meeting of 2008 with Nicol after overcoming stiff resistance from Denmark's Line Hansen to win 11-9, 11-8, 11-8.

"It's Nicol, the world champion, again tomorrow (today). I've played her a few times already this year and not even taken a game so I'm hoping that with home court and the Hong Kong crowd I'll be able to take at least a game this time," said Rebecca on www.squashsite.co.uk website.
National No 2 Sharon Wee was unable to halt a slide in her form after crashing out 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 to 15th seed Madeline Perry of Ireland, the surprise World Open semi-finalist.

Second seed Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands cruised to the second round after beating Malaysian qualifier Delia Arnold 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 in 26 minutes.

National men's No 1 Ong Beng Hee ended his two-match losing run on the PSA Tour but struggled to get past Hong Kong wild card Dick Lau 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7.

Beng Hee now faces a tough second round opponent in World No 3 James Willstrop of England, who edged Mohammed Abbas of Egypt 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.

Azlan Iskandar overcame fears over his groin and hamstring problems to beat qualifier Aamir Atlas Khan of Pakistan 3-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 and set up a second round clash with second seed Gregory Gaultier of France.

SELECTED RESULTS -- Men's 1st rd: Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Scott Arnold (Aus) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7; Ong Beng Hee (Mas) bt Dick Lau (HK) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7; Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy) 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5; Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) 3-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8.

Women's 1st rd: Nicol David (Mas) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZ) 11-6, 11-3, 11-6; Rebecca Chiu (HK) bt Line Hansen (Den) 11-9, 11-8, 11-8; Natalie Grainger (US) bt Lauren Selby (Eng) 11-9, 11-4, 11-8; Natalie Grinham (Ned) bt Delia Arnold (Mas) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6; Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt Shelley Kitchen (NZ) 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7; Madeline Perry (Ire) bt Sharon Wee (Mas) 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5; Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt Christina Mak (HK) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.

NST
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