Nicol gets her chance to avenge British Open defeat by Perry

SINGAPORE: Defending champion Nicol David will get a chance to avenge her British Open defeat by Madeline Perry in the semi-finals of the US$53,000 CIMB Singapore Women’s Masters squash championship at the Kallang Leisure Park here today.

In yesterday’s quarter-finals, Nicol made short work of seventh seed Kasey Brown of Australia, winning 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in 40 minutes. Perry, on the other hand, recovered from a set down to beat Annie Au of Hong Kong 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4.

The other semi-final will be between third seed Alison Waters of England and second seed Rachael Grinham of Australia.

Waters sent France’s Camille Serme packing with a 12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6 win while Grinham outclassed American Natalie Grainger 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 in just 20 minutes.
Four-time world champion Nicol said her performance against Brown was much better than her first round win over Raneem El Weleily of Egypt.

“I played well and my composure was also much better. I took control of the match. Kasey also made some errors,” said Nicol.

“The court is quite bouncy and I need to be careful with my shots in the semi-finals,” added Nicol.
In her last meeting with Perry in the British Open last September, Nicol was beaten 3-2 in the quarter-finals despite taking a two-set lead .

Asked about her chances against Perry, Nicol said: “I have learned from the defeat in the British Open. I have been training much harder since then. And this time it will be different because I am well prepared and will go all out against her. I think it will be an interesting match tomorrow,” said Nicol.
Perry said that she was happy with her performance in Singapore.

“I’m looking forward to meeting Nicol again. I am getting better in every tournament and believe that I can create another upset against Nicol,” said Perry.

By AFTAR SINGH

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