Skip to main content

Nicol Leads Malaysian Charge Into Semis

GEORGE TOWN, April 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysian squash sensation and current women's world No. 1 Datuk Nicol David led the Malaysian charge into the semi-finals of the 16th Asian Individual Squash Championships here Thursday.

Besides Nicol, Low Wee Wern, Delia Odette Arnold, Ong Beng Hee and Mohd Nafiizwan Mohd Adnan also advanced to the last four of the competition.

Nicol, who is defending her Asian title for the seventh consecutive time while gunning for her eighth title in the championships, outclassed Hong Kong's Chan Ho-Ling 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.

The 27-year-old five-time world champion, who took 31 minutes to down her opponent in straight sets, said she was glad to win the match in front of her family and friends.

"I was trying not to give too much room for her (Chan) but she still managed to play some good shots to steal points," she said during the post-match interview here Thursday.

She said she need to be cautious tomorrow as it would be a tougher encounter against Delia, who came back from 1-2 down in the fourth set to beat Dipika Pallikal of India 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9 in an hour-long battle.

Wee Wern, ranked world number 13, swept aside team-mate Siti Munirah Jusoh 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-2 to set up a semi-final date with the tournament second seed Annie Au Wing-Chi of Hong Kong Friday.

On her next game against Annie Au who defeated Song Sun Mi of South Korea 11-3, 11-6, 11-8, Wee Wern said she had never beaten her opponent in their last few meetings.

"I lost to her 3-0 in last year Korean Open but I just hope that the home crowd will cheer me on to beat her tomorrow," she said.

In the men's category, Beng Hee, ranked world number 27, beat him compatriot Elvinn Keo Jinn Chung 11-8, 11-4, 9-11 and 15-13 in 51 minutes.

After shaky performances in his last two tournaments, Beng Hee said he was hoping to play better and be more focused on his game Friday against his opponent Siddharth Suchde of India, who beat Abdullah Khalid H. Al-Mezayen of Kuwait 12-14, 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8.

"I was a bit over relax today but Elvinn did well to steal the third set from me before I regained my composure in the fourth set to end the contest," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...

Atlet Tempuhi Empat Kejohanan Besar Sebelum Olimpik Rio 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Mei (Bernama) -- Empat temasya sukan penting yang dijadual berlangsung mulai Disember ini hingga 2015 menjadi medan persiapan atlet negara sebelum menghadapi cabaran Sukan Olimpik 2016 di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, kata Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin Jumaati. Kejohanan berkenaan ialah Sukan SEA di Myanmar pada Disember, Sukan Asia 2014 di Incheon, Korea Selatan, Sukan Komanwel 2014 di Glasgow, Scotland dan Sukan SEA 2015 di Singapura. Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas melawat Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) di Bukit Jalil di sini, Khairy berkata kesemua temasya sukan itu dilihat amat penting dalam memastikan impian negara untuk membawa pulang pingat emas Olimpik pertama menjadi kenyataan. "Kita di Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) mahupun MSN akan memastikan semua atlet mendapat bantuan sewajarnya dalam melakukan persiapan ke arah membawa pulang pingat emas pertama negara di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nanti," katanya. Dalam perkemb...

Uber Cub: Malaysian squad Can Spring A Surprise - Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek remains confident that the national Uber Cup squad can spring a surprise when Malaysia hosts the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16. He said despite not being the favourite, the women's team was able to surprise everyone by winning the gold medal at the Laos SEA Games. "I am confident they (Uber Cup team) will be able to produce a similar surprise. Not only are they capable of reaching the semi-final, they can go further," he told reporters after having lunch with national shuttlers here Thursday. National badminton Team manager Datuk Syed Abu Bakar Abdullah who echoed the minister's confidence said: "In Laos, nobody expected the women's team to win the world, so why not the Uber Cup? All they need to do is try their very best." Women's team captain Wong Pei Tty said she and her team-mates have set a target of r...