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Nicol
David KL Open 2012
26-31 Mar, Kuala Lumpur, $70k+$50k
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31-Mar, Finals:
[3] Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt
[4] Adrian Grant (Eng)
11/6, 13/11, 12/14, 6/11, 11/8
(112m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt Annie Au (Hkg)
11/4,
12/10, 11/9 (36m)
 Mosaad
wins KL marathon, Nicol lives up to her own billing ...
Egypt's Omar Mosaad claimed the biggest title of his career
as he overcame Adrian Grant in a lengthy final littered with
lets at the Berjaya Times mall in Kuala Lumpur.
Mosaad, who won the Meco Invitational title in Hong Kong
earlier this month, had beaten the last home player Ong Beng
Hee to reach the final while Englishman Grant had produced a
stunning upset against top seed and defending champion Karim
Darwish.
But it was the Egyptian who started the stronger, taking a
two-game lead, and at 10-8 in the third a straight-games win
looked on the cards. Grant fought back to take the game
14/12, then forced a decider.
 Mosaad always held the advantage in the fifth though, and
with the let count mounting - five or more on a single match
ball and 100 in the entire match - he finally closed it out to claim the title in a
shade under two hours of play.
For
Nicol David it was business as usual as she claimed
her eighth KL Open title - but the first since the
tournament had been named after her - as she beat unseeded
Annie Au in straight games.
 The world champion and world number one eased through the
first game, but Au challenged strongly in the next two -
with David even receiving a conduct warning as affairs
became heated - but to the delight of the partisan crowd
David took both to claim the 60th title of her dazzling
career.
"I'm happy I won the CIMB Nicol David KL Open, and also
knowing that it's named after me, it feels extra special to
win it," said a delighted champion.
In the
Crossfire -
Andrew Cross reports
on the finals
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In the Crossfire
KL Open on SquashSite365
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  Nicol
David KL Open 2012
26-31 Mar, Kuala Lumpur, $70k |
Round One
28 Mar |
Quarters
29 Mar |
Semis
30 Mar |
Final
31 Mar |
[1] Nicol David (Mas)
11/5, 11/5, 11/6 (35m)
[Q] Donna Urquhart (Aus) |
[1] Nicol David
11/5, 11/2, 11/6 (25m)
[Q] Dipika Pallikal |
[1] Nicol David
15/13, 12/14, 11/6, 11/7 (49m)
[5] Raneem El Weleily |
[1] Nicol David
11/4, 12/10, 11/9 (36m)
Annie Au |
[8] Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/6 11/7, 11/9 (40m)
[Q] Dipika Pallikal (Ind) |
[4] Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/9, 11/1, 1/11, 12/10 (53m)
Camille Serme (Fra) |
[4] Madeline Perry
13/11, 11/6, 11/2 (31m)
[5] Raneem El Weleily |
[5] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
11/9, 11/6, 11/5 (30m)
Low Wee Wern (Mas) |
Annie Au (Hkg)
11/9, 12/14, 11/6, 11/6 (55m)
[7] Natalie Grinham (Ned) |
Annie Au
11/8, 7/11, 11/5, 5/11, 11/9 (76m)
[3] Laura Massaro |
Annie Au
9/11, 11/9, 11/8, 11/8 (43m)
[Q] Nour El Sherbini |
Samantha Teran (Mex)
11/7, 11/5, 11/6 (31m)
[3] Laura Massaro (Eng) |
[Q] Heba El Torky (Egy)
8/11, 5/11, 11/9, 11/5, 12/10 (88m)
[6] Rachael Grinham (Aus) |
[6] Rachael Grinham
11/8, 6/11, 11/9, 11/8 (41m)
[Q] Nour El Sherbini |
[Q] Nour El Sherbini (Egy)
12/10, 9/11, 11/5, 9/11, 11/9 (48m)
[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) |
27-Mar, Qualifying Finals:
Nour El Sherbini (Egy) bt
Joelle King (Nzl) 11/5,
10/12, 4/11, 12/10, 11/8 (80m)
Donna Urquhart (Mas) bt Delia Arnold (Mas)
13/11, 11/3, 3/11, 11/6 (52m)
Heba El Torky (Egy) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
11/7, 7/11, 11/6, 14/12 (58m)
Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Nour El Tayeb (Egy)
12/10, 5/11, 11/8, 9/11, 11/6 (60m)
26 Mar, Qualifying Round One:
Joelle King (Nzl) bt Jadeleen Lee (Mas)
11/3, 11/0, 11/2 (14m)
Nour El Sherbini (Egy) bt Teh Min Jie (Mas)
11/2, 11/4, 11/4 (14m)
Donna Urquhart (Mas) bt Rachel Arnold (Mas) 11/7,
11/5, 11/2 (19m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Pushppa Devi (Mas)
11/1, 11/8, 11/2 (27m)
Heba El Torky (Egy) bt Siti Munirah Jusoh (Mas)
11/2, 11/5, 11/5 (23m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) bt Celine Yeap (Mas)
11/1, 11/4, 11/2 (17m)
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Vanessa Raj (Mas)
4/11, 11/2, 11/4, 11/7 (26m)
Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Zuljijah Binti Azan (Mas)
11/2, 11/5, 11/7 (26m)
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 KL Open 2012
26-31 Mar, Kuala Lumpur, $50k |
Round One
28 Mar from 16.00 |
Quarters
29 Mar |
Semis
30 Mar |
Final
31 Mar |
[1] Karim Darwish (Egy)
11/2, 11/5, 11/9 (40m)
Gregoire Marche (Fra) |
[1] Karim Darwish
11/5, 11/3,11/9 (26m)
[Q] Leo Au |
[1] Karim Darwish
12/14, 11/8, 13/11, 11/9 (80m)
[4] Adrian Grant |
[4] Adrian Grant
11/6, 13/11, 12/14, 6/11, 11/8
(112m)
[3] Omar Mosaad |
Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11/8, 9/11, 8/11, 12/10, 11/3 (67m)
[Q] Leo Au (Hkg) |
Max Lee (Hkg)
11/8, 11/5, 11/5 (40m)
[Q] Adrian Waller (Eng) |
Max Lee
7/11, 9/11, 11/9,
11/4, 11/6 (73m)
[4] Adrian Grant |
[4] Adrian Grant (Eng)
6/11, 11/3, 11/8, 11/8 (73m)
Ivan Yuen (Mas) |
Tarek Momen (Egy)
8/11, 12/10, 10/12, 11/1, 11/6 (112m)
[3] Omar Mosaad (Egy) |
[3] Omar Mosaad
11/7, 11/9, 4/11, 11/7 (56m)
Saurav Ghosal |
[3] Omar Mosaad
11/6, 11/7, 8/11, 11/7 (56m)
Ong Beng Hee |
[Q] Abdullah Alkmezayen (Kuw)
9/11, 11/8, 11/8, 11/6 (45m)
Saurav Ghosal (Ind) |
[Q] Matthew Karwalski (Aus)
11/8 rtd (5m)
Ong Beng Hee (Mas) |
Ong Beng Hee
12/10, 11/13, 6/11, 11/7, 11/7 (91m)
Nafiizwan Adnan |
Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)
8/11, 11/7, 7/11, 11/3, 11/2 (66m)
[2] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) |
27-Mar, Qualifying Finals:
Abdullah Almezayen (Kuw) bt
Zac Alexander (Aus) 11/8, 9/11,
12/10, 11/2 (52m)
Adrian Waller (Eng) bt Kamran Khan (Mas)
11/1, 11/6, 11/8 (49m)
Matthew Karwalski (Aus) bt Gurshan Singh (Mas)
11/5, 11/7, 11/5 (24m)
Leo Au (Hkg)
bt
Muhd Asyraf Azan (Mas)
11/9, 11/7, 13/11 (57m)
26-Mar, Qualifying Round One:
Zac Alexander (Aus) bt Syafiq Kamal (Mas)
11/4, 11/4, 11/4 (26m)
Abdullah Almezayen (Kuw) bt Kam Hing Choong (Mas)
11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (29m)
Kamran Khan (Mas) bt Sanjay Singh (Mas)
11/7, 9/11, 11/6, 11/9 (69m)
Adrian Waller (Eng) bt Amir Farhan (Mas)
11/2, 11/2, 11/2 (16m)
Matthew Karwalski (Aus) bt Elvinn Keo (Mas)
5/11, 11/5, 11/5, 11/4 (35m)
Gurshan Singh (Mas) bt
Farhan Mehboob (Pak)
w/o
Muhd Asyraf Azan (Mas) bt Dick Lau (Hkg)
11/7, 7/11, 11/6, 11/5 (41m)
Leo Au (Hkg)
bt
Siddarth Suchde (Ind)
6/11, 11/13, 11/7, 14/12, 12/10 (122m)
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KL Open news
from the Star (and other Malaysian papers)
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30-Mar, Semis:
[4] Adrian Grant bt [1]
Karim Darwish
12/14, 11/8,
13/11, 11/9 (80m)
[3] Omar Mosaad bt Ong Beng Hee
11/6, 11/7,
8/11, 11/7
Annie Au bt [Q] Nour El Sherbini
9/11, 11/9,
11/8, 11/8 (43m)
[1] Nicol David bt [5] Raneem El Weleily
15/13, 12/14,
11/6, 11/7
Semis in
the Crossfire -
Andrew Cross reports Nicol
survives as KL Open finalists decided
While there were no further upsets in the semi-finals of the
CIMB Nicol David KL Open WSA World Series event, Malaysia's
seven-time title holder Nicol David was made to work
hard before seeing off the challenge of Egypt's Raneem El
Weleily in four tough games.
In the final she'll face Hong Kong's unseeded Annie Au,
who ended the run of Egyptian qualifier Nour El Sherbini,
coming from a game down to win 3/1.
In the men's PSA $50 event hopes of home interest in both
finals were dashed as another Egyptian, third seed Omar
Mosaad, beat Ong Beng Hee 3/1 to advance to the final
where he'll face fourth seeded Englishman Adrian Grant
who scored a sensational upset, comiong from a game down to
beat top seed Karim Darwish 3/1 after 80 minutes.
A delighted Grant tweeted: "Won a battle against Darwish
today, thanks to @hollyeddleston little chat. 1 more day, 1
more push, 1 more match ... final tomo."
Semis in
the Crossfire - Andrew Cross reports
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29-Mar, Quarters:
[1] Karim Darwish bt
[Q] Leo Au 11/5, 11/3,11/9 (26m)
[4] Adrian Grant bt Max Lee 7/11, 9/11, 11/9,
11/4, 11/6 (76m)
Ong Beng Hee bt Nafiizwan Adnan
12/10,11/13,6/11,11/7,11/7
[3] Omar Mosaad bt Saurav Ghosal 11/7, 11/9,
4/11, 11/7
In the Crossfire - Andrew Cross
reports on the quarters
[Q] Nour Sherbini
bt [6] Rachael Grinham 11/8,6/11,11/9,11/8
Annie Au bt [3] Laura Massaro
11/8,7/11,11/5,5/11,11/9 (76m)
[5] Raneem El Weleily bt [4] Madeline Perry 13/11,
11/6, 11/2
[1] Nicol David bt Dipika Pallikal
11/5, 11/2, 11/6
No end to the upsets in KL
Quarter-finals day
at the CIMB Nicol David KL Open saw another stunning series
of upsets in the WSA W$70k World Series event, as the
younger generation again made its mark.
Nour El Sherbini followed up her defeat of Jenny Duncalf
with an equally impressive win over Rachael Grinham,
Annie Au stunned third seed Laura Massaro in a marathon
match, and Raneem El Weleily beat fourth seed
Madeline Perry in straight games.
It was left to seven-time champion Nicol David to
ensure that at least one of the top four seeds made the
semi-finals as she ended the run of Dipika Pallikal in
straight games.
In the men's $50k event the three remaining top seeds all
came through - poster boy Adrian Grant having to come from
two games down though - to be joined in the semis by Ong
Beng Hee who won a marathon all-Malaysian affair with
Nafiizwan Adnan.
FROGS' TALK
"Déçue et frustrée... Il y avait vraiment la place..
J'avais un plan tactique, j'ai essayé de m'y tenir tout le long du
match.. Ce qui est rageant, c'est que j'ai mené beaucoup d'échanges,
je l'ai fais courir, bougé, mais je n'arrivais pas à conclure... à
l'image du 1er jeu que je mène et au dernier que je dois gagner
après 2 balles de jeu..
J'étais dans une bonne phase d'entraînement avant de faire ce
tournoi, alors même si on a envie que ça paie tout de suite, il faut
être patient et continuer sur cette voie..
Je pars au Texas dans 3 semaines. Objectif: remporter le tournoi!
Alors retour maison pour travailler et voir les points qui m'ont
empêcher de passer ici..
À bientôt, bises"
Merci :)
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28-Mar, Round One:
Day for the youngsters in KL
First round action in the CIMB Nicol David KL Open saw a
series of upsets by the young generation of WSA players at
the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil.
Round One - the Crossview
Andrew Cross reports
 First,
and biggest, was Nour El Sherbini's stunning 3/2
defeat of world number two Jenny Duncalf.
The 16-year-old former world junior champion picked up
her biggest scalp to date as she won a see-saw battle in 48
minutes.
"BOOM, so delighted to get through it," tweeted Sherbini.
At the same time, Sherbini's compatriot Heba El
Torky, 21, was stretching sixth seed Rachael Grinham
to all the way to 12/10 in the fifth after 88
minutes.
 Another
upset quickly followed though, as Hong Kong's Annie Au,
23, beat former world number two and seventh seed Natalie
Grinham in four games.
Then it was the turn of Raneem El Weleily, the
23-year-old fifth seed to provide more Egyptian success as
she beat Malaysian number two Low Wee Wern in straight
games.
"Proud of @Nour_Sherbini who's also through to the quarters
beating the world's #2," tweeted El Weleily.
 The
final upset of the day came when 20-year-old Dipika
Pallikal joined in the fun with a straight games win
over eighth seed Kasey Brown.
"First win over a top 10 player," tweeted the Indian
starlet, "quarters tomorrow against World number 1. Big day
ahead :)"
Laura Massaro and Madeline Perry, the third
and fourth seeds, kept the flag flying for the older
generation as they went through to set up quarter-final
meetings with Au and Weleily, and the quarter-final draw was
rounded off as Nicol David started her quest for an
eighth KL title with a straight games win over qualifier
Donna Urquhart.
Adnan upsets Azlan,
but home semi-finalist assured
Meanwhile in the PSA $50k event, top seed and defending
champion Karim Darwish opened his defence comfortably
enough with a straight games win over young Frenchman Greg
Marche.
There were upsets elsewhere in the draw though, none
more so than in the bottom spot as Nafiizwan Adnan
got the better of second seeded compatriot Azlan Iskandar in
a five game battle.
A Malaysian semi-finalist is assured as Adnan now weets
Ong Beng Hee, who eased through against an injured
Matthew Karwalski.
Hong Kong's Leo Au, Annie's younger brother,
continued his recent fine run of form - and marathon
matches - with a 67-minute upset win over Australian Ryan
Cuskelly, but the longest match of the day was the
all-Egyptian meeting between Omar Mosaad and Tarek
Momen, with third seed Mosaad prevailing 3/2 after 112
minutes.
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This poster needs to be bigger
i think! My head is to small :-)
@Adrian1Grant
Round One - the Crossview
Andrew Cross reports
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Qualifying Finals |
27-Mar, Qualifying
Finals:
Qualifying complete
in KL
Andrew Cross reports
 The
CIMB Nicol David KL open final round of qualifying got
underway with some extremely difficult matches. After
yesterday's rather comfortable matches on the women’s side
today was the first real day for the women to showcase their
sport at the highest level.
The opening two matches were extremely close with two
upcoming juniors taking to the court, Dipika Pallikal
from India taking on Nour El Tayeb from Egypt.
Dipika had a highest ranking of 14 last month against Tayeb
whose highest ranking of 12 at the end of 2011, so on paper
this promised to be close and so it proved to be.
The opening game was 10.10 when Dipika finished it off with
a low backhand volley and then El Tayeb hit the tin. El
Tayeb then squared the match at one game all and built a
healthy lead in the third to 6-2 but Dipika came back strong
to lead 10.7 and she closed out the game 11.8. El Tayeb came
back to win the fourth 11.9 but Dipika eventually close it
out in the fifth. This was the opening match in what proved
to be a high quality night for women’s squash.
Jacklyn Hawkes was looking to use her experience
against Heba El Torky and again this proved to be a
close match. The last time they met back in 2010 it was a
3-1 win to Heba and so this was the case again tonight. A
slightly scrappy match that seemed to suit the Egyptian more
than Hawkes. The opening games were shared before Heba went
on to win the third and the fourth and the fourth only just
14-12.
The second matches onto the court saw two well established
players taking to the court when the last surviving local
player Delia Arnold took to the court to take on
Donna Urquhart from Australia. Considering how long they
have been playing on the tour these two have actually never
played before.
An even opening game stood at 11-10 to Donna when Donna
caught Delia in the face with the racket. Delia received a
small nick to the face yet somehow it was deemed self
inflicted by the referee so she only had three minutes to
sort out the injury. Donna went on to win the opening game.
Very quickly it became two games to nil. In the third Delia
got off to a better start leading 5-0 and then 10-2 before
winning 11-3. The fourth was close up until the midpoint of
the game when Donna put together a few points to lead 10-6
and she closed out the match to book her spot in the first
round against Nicol David.
Joelle King and Nour El Sherbini took to the
next court and this one promised to be a great match. Both
women strike the ball beautifully and powerfully, with both
girls finishing off their opponents yesterday in 14 minutes
they both had plenty of energy to offer to the match.
This proved to be a high quality match with Sherbini taking
the opening games with lots of attacking shots from the back
of the court. Any shot that king left half court to ¾ court
and with an angle usually ended with a straight drop. In
games two and three King found better length and managed to
limit the angles that she provided Sherbini with.
The fourth was tight all the way with until King held match
balls at 11-10, five lets followed as both players played
safe waiting for the opportunity. However King left Sherbini
with two angles and Sherbini obliged to hit two winners and
force a fifth.
King started better in the fifth taking a 4-0 lead but
Sherbini fought back to lead. The next few points were
shared until Sherbini got a few points clear again attacking
well from the back of the court.
This was the final match of the night and there was a big
crowd to see who would win. Eventually Sherbini won the
match on a stroke in what was a high quality match.
It was a great night for women’s squash and im sure that the
people involved in it have a lot to be happy and proud
about.
On the men’s side of the draw the opening matches saw
Matthew Karwalski from Australia prevail over Gurshan
Singh and Leo Au back up his tough match from
yesterday with a win over Asyraf Azan.
Matthew seeming to struggle with a leg injury used the
height on the front wall to recover back to the middle and
had a little bit too much experience for the local who
received a walkover yesterday.
Asyraf and Leo played quite a scrappy match with lots of
points ending in lets and collisions around the middle of
the court. Leo held his composure better and remained focus
despite all the distractions to see off the local boy.
Adrian Waller played with a great variety of pace and
deception to see off the last local in qualifying Kamran
Khan. Waller played a brilliant opening game winning it 11-1
before Khan got back into the match. The second and third
were competitive but Waller never looked like he was going
to lose after playing so commandingly in the opening game.
The final match of the night proved to be a brilliant match
that went all the way to a fifth. It was a match that has
contrasting styles Zac Alexander the Australian that has a
very good strong basic game against the unpredictable
Abdullah Almezayen. Abdullah got off to the better start
using his deception to hold Zac on the T looking to play a
drop and then push the ball to the back of the court.
Lots of drops were coming off Abdullahs racket that stayed
way up the court catching Zac hanging back a little bit.
Zac was also playing well he never gives an opponent
anything for free and to win a point you are required to
work extremely hard for it. The opening four games were
shared but Abdullah got the better start in the fifth and
quickly led 10-2. He eventually finished it off 11-2 and
even though the match may have only been 52 minutes long
there were a lot of short sharp intense rallies.
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26-Mar, Qualifying Day
One:
CIMB ND under way
in KL
Andrew Cross reports
The
anticipation is over as the CIMB Nicol David KL open
championships finally got under way at the National Centre
Bukit Jalil.
Uphill task for home hopefuls
The women’s qualifying draw saw home interest involved in
every match and it looked a tall order indeed for the
Malaysian’s as they took on some well established opponents.
Dipika Pallikal and Nour El Tayeb were first
onto the court, Dipika the current World Number 15 beat
Zulhijjah Azan 11-2, 11-5,11-7 as the local player seemed to
get better as the match went on.
Dipika will play El Tayeb, the current World Junior
Champion, after she beat Vanessa Raj despite starting
slowly. El Tayeb dropped the first game but recovered
sufficiently enough to win the next three games.
Jacklyn Hawkes made light work of Celine Yeap and
will play Heba El Torky tomorrow. The Egyptian, who
seems to bounce around the court, beat Siti Muniroh 11-2,
11-5,11-5.
Donna Urquhart, who has been a regular to Malaysia
over the last few years, took on National Junior Rachel
Arnold and after finding her feet in the opening game took
control of the match in games two and three. Tomorrow Donna
will expect to have a tougher match against Rachel's older
sister Delia Arnold who overcame Pushppa Devi also
three games to love.
The final matches of the day saw two more national juniors
taking to the courts in what looked to be two very difficult
matches for them and so it proved to be as Nour El
Sherbini beat Teh Min Jie and Joelle King beat
Jadeleen Lee.
Tough days for the locals in the women’s draw but it is
great exposure for them as some of them look to the long
term and a life on the WSA tour.
Tough openers for the Men
In the Men’s draw there were some tough opening matches with
Indian Siddharth Suchde taking on Leo Au from Hong
Kong and Asyraf Azan taking on Dick Lau also from
Hong Kong.
Azan won in 41 minutes, but Siddharth and Leo played a match
that lasted just over two hours!
Siddharth won the first game and as Leo looked to level in
the second at 11-all Siddharth played a great low backhand
drive and then Leo followed this by easy boast tin.
That was two games up to Siddharth and now he was looking to
close out the match but Leo had other ideas. Leo opened up a
lead in the third and Siddharth couldn’t quite recover. The
fourth was similar with Leo opening a small lead before
Siddharth fought back.
Another game that Leo just stole on the tie break, we were
into a fifth and both were still moving as they were in the
first few rallies showing no signs of tiredness.
The fifth went to a tie break Leo got the point to go to
11-10 a few lets followed and then another long rally and in
the back corner Siddharth struggled after hitting a ball to
recover and appeared to cramp so with Leo the whole court to
hit into finished it off with a backhand drop.
Siddharth however was laid flat out on the floor cramping in
agony.
Leo will need a good night's rest before he takes on Azan
who beat Dick Lau in four games. The opening games were
shared before Azan gained control to take the third and the
fourth games.
After the two hour match the next match was nonexistent as
Gurshan Singh received a Walkover against Farhan
Mehboob who failed to show.
Singh will play Matthew Karwalski after the
Australian beat Malaysian Elvinn Keo. Elvinn played well in
the first before then losing his way and lost the next three
games.
Adrian Waller will be in good shape to face Kamran
Khan tomorrow after beating Amir Farhan 11-2, 11-2,
11-2.
Kamran was made to work a lot harder than Waller against
Sanjay Singh in what was a closely contested match. Kamran
with more experience at this level won the opening game
before Sanjay hit back to win the second.
Kamran regained the third but it looked like we could go to
a fifth after Sanjay was leading 8-5. Kamran however slowed
down the pace a little bit and his younger opponent got a
little bit excited. Kamran reeled off the next 6 points in a
row.
Abdullah Al Muzayen, the guy with the magic racket,
beat Choong Kam Hing to play Zac Alexander who beat
Syafiq Kamal.
Tomorrow this match promises to be a clash of styles as the
hard working Australian looks to combat the flamboyance of
the Kuwaiti.
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Coming up
in KL
Preview from Andrew Cross
Malaysian
Sport celebrates what will no doubt be a busy week for all
sports fans across the country. This weekend will see the
Malaysian Formula one Grand Prix, Axiata Cup
(ASIAN Men’s team badminton) and of course the CIMB Nicol
David KL Open.
Berjaya Times square will once again host the competition
from the quarter finals onwards, a fantastic venue in the
centre of KL. The championships have been renamed this year
after probably the countries biggest sporting superstar in
recognition of her achievements.
Nicol will begin a quest for an 8th KL Open title with an
opening match against a qualifier. There is a possibility of
a quarter final meeting with Kasey Brown should Brown
overcome a qualifier in the opening round. Brown is
currently playing in Canada [she's in the final of the
Atwater Cup today] and will make a trip around the world to
be here.
The next quarter of the draw looks very tough indeed and on
the bouncy courts in the National Squash Centre, Bukit Jalil
it could prove to be an even playing field. Madeline
Perry, last year’s runner up, faces Camille Serme
in what promises to be a great opening round match. The
winner of this match will also play the winner of another
tough match between Raneem El Weleily and another
local star Low Wee Wern.
In the next quarter of the draw comes another tough little
quarter with Annie Au from Hong Kong, last year’s
semi finalist taking, on former world number two Natalie
Grinham. Samantha Teran takes on Laura Massaro
in what could be another tough first round match.
Rachel Grinham and second seed Jenny Duncalf
will both take on qualifiers in their opening round matches.
From the way I write people may believe that playing a
qualifier in the opening round will mean that the seeded
players will be guaranteed to make the quarter finals but by
having had two matches already on the courts, understanding
the referees' viewpoints and being into tournament mode will
this mean that some of the qualifiers progress.
There are two World Junior champions in qualifying as well
as four more players that make up the top 16 in the world.
In the men’s draw it will see the return of last year’s
champion Karim Darwish and he will begin against
Frenchman Gregoire Marche in a repeat of last year's
semi-final which Darwish won 3-0 on his way to the title.
Winner of this match will play either Ryan Cuskelly
or a qualifier.
Adrian Grant will take on former World Junior runner
up and wildcard for the tournament Ivan Yuen. This
promises to be an interesting encounter as Ivan looks to
build on some good form that he has shown.
The lower half of the draw seems very tough with an all
Egyptian clash taking place in the first round. Omar
Mossad, third seed and winner in Hong Kong last week,
will take on compatriot Tarek Momen who took James
Willstrop all the way to a fifth in Canary Wharf. Winner of
this brutal encounter looks set to take on Saurav Ghosal
who also pushed the current world number one Willstrop to a
fifth in the opening round in Canary Wharf.
The last quarter of the draw sees a lot of home interest
with Ong Beng Hee taking on a qualifier and he will
be looking to continue his good start to the year. The final
match in the draw sees two friends and training partners
taking to the court, Azlan Iskander v Nafizwan
Adnan. Azlan is the current Asian Games champion taking
on the current Asian Champion Nafizwan - promises to be
another good match.
Qualifying looks interesting with a wide mix of players who
play with different styles, top 8 qualifiers are now seeded
and I’m sure they will all be looking to avoid Abdullah
Al Muzayen from Kuwait who is a very talented player
whose world ranking does not reflect his true ability.
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01-Mar:
KL Open goes Gold -
and gets a new name ...
 Following
the world No1’s record sixth World Open title win last year,
the tournament sponsors CIMB Group have paid tribute to
Nicol David, who currently has 59 WSA titles to her
name.
Group Chief Executive of CIMB Group, Dato’ Sri Nazir
Razak said:
"Nicol is a national icon, and she is arguably Malaysia's
most successful sportsperson ever. We decided to rename the
KL Open to ensure her achievements are remembered and
celebrated annually."
Nicol has played in eleven previous CIMB KL Open finals,
winning seven of them, and last year was honoured by
Malaysia’s Prime Minister for her successes after securing
her most recent world open title.
 Last
year she claimed all but one of the WSA World Series events,
falling just short of a clean-sweep as she lost to
Kasey Brown in the semi-finals of the Delaware Investments
US Open in Philadelphia, Laura Massaro going on to take the
title.
The tournament is also being upgraded to a World Series
Gold event, which will see the prize money total
increase from $45k to $60k and will sit alongside the
Australian Open, Malaysian Open, US Open, Qatar Classic and
Hong Kong Open as this year’s WSA World Series events,
culminating with the Cayman Islands World Open in December.
WSA Chairman Ingrid Lofdahl-Bentzer commends the deal
that further raises the profile of women’s squash. She said:
"It’s wonderful to see CIMB continuing to recognise the
value of supporting squash and honouring Nicol David by
naming the tournament after her. Furthermore we are very
pleased to see an already prestigious event take the step up
to World Series.
"Last year was a particularly exciting one on the WSA World
Tour with a number of younger players starting to make an
impact, so we are sure they will be rewarded with a
fantastic event and Nicol David will have to be at her best
to defend her title."
 The
CIMB NICOL DAVID KL OPEN SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012 will
mark the first World Series event of the year for the WSA
World Tour, following the ATCO World Series Finals at the
Queen’s Club, London in January.
Top seeds Nicol and World No2 Jenny Duncalf will face
qualifiers in the first round which starts on 28th March
2012. No3 seed Laura Massaro will face Samantha
Teran of Mexico in the first round, whilst Irish No4
seed Madeline Perry will play France's Camille
Serme.
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