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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.

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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

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