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Squash: World No. 1 Nicol takes aim at Hong Kong title

KUALA LUMPUR: World number one Nicol David will be gunning to stretch her record of professional title in a season to 10 at the Hong Kong Open, which begins today at the Hong Kong Squash Centre.

The Penangite has been in smashing form this year and she has gone unbeaten for 53 matches in the Women’s International Squash Players Association (Wispa) circuit. It is already her best achievement since turning professional in 2000.

Last year, Nicol won eight titles in 11 Wispa tournaments but this season, she has won nine consecutive titles — Apawamis, KL Open, British Open, Seoul Open, Malaysia Open, Singapore Masters, Dutch Open, World Open and Qatar Classic.

Nicol will begin her defence of the Hong Kong Open title against Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand. In her half of the draw are 13th seed Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong, seventh seed Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt and fourth seed Natalie Grainger of the United States.

Besides Nicol, Malaysia also have national number two and world number 24 Sharon Wee in the main draw. The 31-year-old Sharon will face 15th seed Madeline Perry of Ireland in the first round.

World number three Natalie Grinham of Holland, who has yet to win a Wispa title this year, is the second seed. In her half of the draw is elder sister Rachael of Australia.

In the men’s competition, Malaysia have Ong Beng Hee and Mohd Azlan Iskandar in the main draw. In the first round, the 10th seeded Beng Hee will play against Dick Lau of Hong Kong while Azlan will take on a qualifier.

World number one and defending champion Amr Shabana of Egypt is the top seed.

Star 19 Nov 2008

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