Skip to main content

SQUASH: Nicol triumphs

NICOL David stands as the odd one out in the CIMB Nicol David Kuala Lumpur Open semi-finals as a spate of upsets decimated the women's draw at Berjaya Times Square yesterday.

.
Dipika Pallikal (left) returns a shot to Nicol David in the quater-finals of the CIMB Nicol David KL Open yesterday. Pic by Supian Ahmad

Egyptian duo Raneem El Weleily and Nour El Sherbini joined Hong Kong's Annie Au in turning the form book upside down, ensuring one unseeded player will be in tomorrow's final.

  Ong Beng Hee too showed there is life left in the 32-year-old legs as he ousted Asian champion Nafiizwan Adnan 12-10, 11-13, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 in a 91-minute marathon to keep hopes of a Malaysian double alive.

  But there was litle surprise when Nicol, who was last on court with India's Dipika Pallikal nearly an hour behind schedule, eased through 11-5, 11-2, 11-6.

  "She was trying to put the ball to the back of the court and I had to be running a lot more. But I felt good and was moving well and I'm looking ahead to another good match tomorrow (today)," said Nicol, who faces Raneem in the semi-finals.

  Beng Hee saved four game points to win the next but inexplicably blew a 10-7 lead in the second to allow Nafiizwan to stretch the match.

  "Had I won the second game, it would have made things easier but instead Nafiizwan became more confident and won the third.

  "I was not really feeling sharp and the fourth and fifth were tough. I did not play well and my experience got me through this time," said world No 24 Beng Hee, the 2008 KL Open winner who plays Omar Mosaad next.

  Nour, 16, continued her amazing run with an 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8 upset of former world champion Rachael Grinham of Australia, the third top-12 victim in her amazing run following earlier defeats of Joelle King and Jenny Duncalf.

  "I'm very happy because it's the first time for me in a semi-finals of a major tournament. Rachael had the experience so I played without pressure and tried to beat her at the back-court because it's so hard to play her at the front," said Nour, whose win over Rachael was the first in two meetings.

  Annie followed up her ouster of Natalie Grinham in the first round by putting England's Laura Massaro, the third seed, to the sword, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-9.

  "In the fifth game, I was more relaxed and sensed she was nervous. The pressure was on her as she's the higher-ranked player. I stayed patient and waited for my opportunities," said Annie, who hopes to go one better than last year when she meets Nour today.

  Raneem maintained the theme of the night with a quickfire dismissal of fourth seed Madeline Perry of Ireland, 13-11, 11-6, 11-2 while Karim Darwish and Mosaad ensured Egypt had four semi-finalists after winning the men's quarter-finals.

  Darwish ended the gallant run of Hong Kong's Leo Au, who spent a cumulative five hours on court from the start of qualifying, 11-5, 11-3, 11-9 while Mosaad eliminated India's Saurav Ghosal 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7 to face Beng Hee today.

Read more: NST

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
12 comments
Read more

Organising Major Sports Events Can Inspire Sports Culture Among The People - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- Organising major sports events can help inspire sports culture among the people and ensure a healthy lifestyle said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said the Tour of Malaysia cycling race organised since 1963, for example, can encourage more people to take the sport in a more competitive way or just for recreation purposes. "A study carried out by a world renown medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that 61 percent of adults in Malaysia do not engage themselves in active sports. "A study by the Health Ministry revealed that only 25 percent of Malaysians exercise," he said in his speech when launching the 2013 Tour of Malaysia (Jelajah Malaysia) at the Youth and Sports Ministry, here, Wednesday. "Cycling, though not as popular here as in countries like Denmark, the activity is becoming popular among the people as can be seen through an increase in sale of bicycles for recreation," he sa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sports press clippings on the 24 April 2008

Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob (centre) speaks to athletes after giving away the Olympic qualifying incentives in Putrajaya yesterday. — Pic: RAMDZAN MASIAM Thomas Cup Equally Important, Says Ismail PUTRAJAYA, April 23 (Bernama) -- Although Malaysia want badly a badminton gold at the Beijing Olympics in August, winning the Thomas Cup in Jakarta in May is equally important, said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob. "My ministry deems all events participated by the national badminton squad as important including the Thomas Cup, which Malaysia last won in 1992. "Statements made that the Beijing Olympics takes precedence over other events is not the position of the ministry," he told reporters at his office here today. Ismail said no matter what events Malaysians competed, seeking glory for the nation should be the overriding priority. He said this when asked to comment on remarks by national badminton chief coach Yap Kim Hock on...
Post a Comment
Read more