23-Aug, Day SIX, FINALS:

[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egy) 3-0  [6] Max Lee (Hkg)
                  11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (34m)

[3] Raneem El Welily (Egy) 3-2 Nour El Tayeb (Egy)
                 7-11, 11-3, 12-10, 2-11, 11-7 (40m)

Finals Reports ... from Jason Lee

Mohamed Shorbagy bt Max Lee

Shorbagy started the match steadily and confidently – attempting fancy boasts to the front. They all contributed well-deserved points to him as he steadily finished the game 11-6.

The games were closer in the second and third, as Max awed the crowd with his retrieves and counterattacks. However, it was Shorbagy who was the better player as he closed the next two games confidently at 11-7 and 11-9.

“I have been playing in this tournament for the past few years. This is my first Malaysian Open title,” he said. He also gave credit to Max for playing well and mentioned of how much Max has improved a lot recently.

When asked about the match, Max said, “I played one of my best squash and he still beat me easily”. He said that he is happy for reaching the final of this tournament, having always ended his run in the early rounds in the previous years.

Raneem El Welily bt Nour El Tayeb

Raneem seemed start off slowly in the first game. A determined Nour took the first game 11-7. In the second, Nour took the first point with a volley drop to the front right corner whilst she was leaping into the air to reach Raneem’ lob. Raneem started to significantly tighten her game and positioned the ball better. Raneem cruised through the second with an 11-3 win in just 6 minutes.

The third got a lot more exciting as Raneem raced to a 5-0 lead. Nour levelled; 5-all. Neck and neck, they reached 8 all. Nour took the first game ball at 10-9. Raneem levelled, then reached game ball at 11-10. She closed it 12-10. Raneem once again seemed to slow down in the fourth and a fired-up Nour closed it at 11-2 in just 5 minutes.

The crowd was treated to a mouth-watering fifth set between the two young and talented Egyptian girls. As the more experienced player, Raneem simply played a sharp game and moved fluidly around the court as she forced her opponent to work hard for every point. She confidently closed at 11-7 – claiming her second Malaysian Open Title.

“Nour is like my little sister. We motivate each other a lot,” said Raneem. Speaking of Raneem, Nour also mentioned that they are both very close and that she was happy for herself and Raneem for reaching the final.

       Factoid: in both finals the world #3 beat the world #25 !
 

DRAWS & RESULTS

Semis Reports

Photo Gallery

 [7] Annie Au

7-11, 11-6, 11-8,
13-11 (52m)

[3] Raneem El Welily

7-11, 11-3, 12-10,
2-11, 11-7 (40m)

Nour El Tayeb

 11-4, 6-11,
12-10, 13-15, 11-6 (50m)

[3] Raneem El Welily

11-5, 11-6,
11-7 (25m)

[10] Amanda Sobhy

11-9, 11-9, 11-3 (26)

Nour El Tayeb

11-9, 17-15,
2-11, 9-2 rtd (53m)

Nour El Tayeb

18-Aug, Qualifying (one round):

Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg) 3-0 Zoe Foo (Mas)                             11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (23m)
Latasha Khan (Usa) 3-1 Vanessa Raj (Mas)               11-5, 11-7, 12-14, 11-3 (41m)
Samantha Teran (Mex) 3-2 Yathreb Adel (Egy)   11-9,8-11,14-12,4-11,14-12 (65m)
Liu Tsz-Ling (Hkg) 3-1 Rachel Arnold (Mas)               10-12, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (38m)
Lisa Aitken (Eng) 3-0 Teh Min Je (Mas)                                11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (17m)
Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) 3-0 Sivasangari Subramaniam (Mas) 11-5,13-11,11-7 (27m)
Habiba Mohamed (Egy) 3-0 Zuljijaj Binti Azan (Mas)           13-11, 11-1, 11-5 (28m)
Deon Saffery (Wal) 3-0 Siyoli Waters (Rsa)                        11-5, 11-7, 14-12 (30m)

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11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (47m)

[3] Tarek Momen

 11-6, 11-7,
11-9 (34m)

[6] Max Lee

7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (60m)

[2] Borja Golan

19-Aug, Qualifying Finals:

Lucas Serme (Fra) 3-1 Alfredo Avila (Mex)             11-4, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8 (56m)
Rex Hedrick (Aus) 3-0 Addeen Idrakie (Mas)                    11-4 11-8 11-2 (42m)
Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 3-0 Valentino Bong (Mas)      11-7  11-6  11-6 (60m)
Azlan Iskandar (Mas) 3-0 Shaun Le Roux (Rsa)             11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (33m)

18-Aug, Qualifying Round One:

Alfredo Avila (Mex)   bye
Lucas Serme (Fra) 3-1  Sanjay Singh (Mas)                   11-8 11-4 8-11 11-5 (61m)
Addeen Idrakie (Mas) 3-2 Elvinn Keo  (Mas)     11-8, 11-9, 12-14, 8-11, 11-6 (70m)
Rex Hedrick (Aus) 3-0 Amir Farhan (Mas)                           11-4, 11-1, 11-1 (24m)
Valentino Bong (Mas) 3-2 Matthew Karwalski (Aus)  11-6,11-7,8-11,6-11,11-7 (56m)
Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 3-1 Gurshan Singh (Mas)       11-3,9-11,11-6,11-4 (44m)
Azlan Iskandar (Mas) 3-0 Ammar Altamimi (Kuw)              11-4, 11-6, 11-1 (22m)
Shaun Le Roux (Rsa) bye

22-Aug, Day FIVE, SEMIS:
Egyptian women's champion guaranteed

First up was a surprise semi-final between the 2010 and 2011 world junior champions Amanda Sobhy and Nour El Tayeb, and it was the Egyptian who prevailed in straight games 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 to make her first world series final, unseeded at that!

An Egyptian champion was guaranteed when Raneem El Welily came from a game down to beat home favourite Nicol David in four games 13-11 in the last, denying the world number one a place in the final for the first time since 2003!

In the men's semis top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy won an all-Egyptian clash with Tarek Momen 11-7, 11-7, 11-7, and will meet Hong Kong's Max Lee, who downed second-seeded Spaniard Borja Golan 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7.

Semi-Final Reports ... from Jason Lee

Nour El Tayeb bt Amanda Sohby

Nour and Amanda, both 21 years of age, and ranked 25 and 15 in the world respectively, had to battle through extremely tough opponents to get to the semis against the odds. It was expected to be an exciting match.

It was point for point in the first game as the fast-paced attacks started right from the first rally. It was soon over in a few minutes, with Nour winning it 11-8. Nour continued her relentless assault in the second game. In a particularly long rally, a deft drop to the front right corner by Nour was counterattacked by a crosscourt drive by Amanda; and Nour who was already at the T, hit a nice deep volley to the rear left corner of the court – taking the point. The crowd cheered and Nour was 4-2 up. She then raced to 7-2 with her lethal drops, deep drives and amazing retrieves. Amanda tightened her game and started luring Nour to the front before driving deep to the back. She brought the deficit to a point, and was trailing 8-9. It was Nour, however, who clinched the second 11-9.

Coming in firing in the third, Nour pushed Amanda to every corner of the court. Amanda was starting to tin a bit more and her returns seemed to be a bit looser. She reached game ball at 10-2. Amanda’s deep crosscourt drive brought it to 3-10. A long rally ensued. A crosscourt backhand volley by Amanda was met with a forehand volley boast which landed deep at the front left of the court. Amanda failed to reach it and it was game and match to Nour El Tayeb at 11-3.


Raneem El Weleily bt Nicol David

Raneem and Nicol are no strangers to each other on the tour. They have played each other many times and I expected the match to be an interesting one.

In the first game, it was Nicol who took the first two points; 2-0 to Nicol. With both players driving deep and looking for opportunities to attack, it was a game of consistency and precision drives, complemented by lethal drop shots at every opening. The game went to 2-all, and then 6-all, before Nicol pulled away and sealed it with an 11-7 win.

In the second game, Raneem took the first two points; 2-0 to Raneem. Continuing with their superb rallies of killer drives and attacks at the front, the crowd was treated to top-class squash. A stroke to Raneem gave her the game ball at 10-6 and she sealed the game 11-6. In the third, Raneem once again took the first two points. It was a very close game between the two players. The game consisted of long deep drives and lethal drops – a crowd-pleaser. Raneem managed to close it 11-8.

The fourth was a crucial one for Nicol. Both came on court firing. Raneem took the first two points; 2-0. Nicol levelled; 2-2. It went to 6-all, 7-all, 8-all, and then 9-all. Raneem was first to reach game and match ball at 10-9. With a beautiful drop shot, and to a thunderous applause, Nicol saved it and took it to 10-all. The crowd held its breath – hoping for a fifth set. Nicol took game ball at 11-10. Raneem levelled; 11-all. A nail-biting rally later and Raneem took match ball at 12-11. Nicol then tinned on a backhand crosscourt volley and an all-Egyptian final is set for the Women’s CIMB Malaysian Open 2014.

Max Lee bt Borja Golan

Second-seed and World No. 7 Borja Golan at sixth-seed World No. 25 Max Lee were at one game all by the time I got back to the arena to watch the match. Borja had won the first game 11-7 and Max took the second 11-7.

In the third, Max got the first point from a drop shot. He fought his way to 5-1. There were a lot of attacks to the front, and also at the front, with counter crosscourt drops. Max was complementing his attacking drives with deadly drops to the front. He took the third 11-8.

The fourth was a similar affair with both players attacking a lot at every corner of the court. At 3-all, Borja slipped while trying to retrieve a drop at the front left. He was quite upset about it and mentioned to the referee the slippery court was a serious issue or a serious concern. The court attendants were called in to mop the surface of the court floor as usual. The match, however, continued and it was Max who reached game ball and match ball at 10-7. He clinched the game 11-7.

“I am so happy. This will give me a lot of confidence for the Hong Kong Open, The Asian Games, and for future tournaments,” he said. Max Lee moves on to his first final of a PSA 50K Event.

Mohamed El Shorbagy bt Tarek Momen

Shorbagy took the first point in the first game. He then raced to 5-1, helped by Tarek’s errors, mostly unforced. At 5-2, Shorbagy slipped. The court attendants were called in. “Shift me to Bukit Jalil,” Shorbagy told the centre referee. “If we get injured, it’s your responsibility,” he added. Shorbagy closed it 11-7.

In the second, Shorbagy continued his hard-hitting squash and volleys down the walls. Matching the pace, Tarek was attacking to the front at every given opportunity. Midway through the game, Shorbaby had another nasty fall and there was a serious discussion among the tournament referee and the two players about shifting the match to another venue. In my opinion, it seemed unnecessary to get a consensus from the two players if an independent body finds the conditions of the court unsatisfactory – meaning that the decision is best left to the referees. The game, however, continued and Shorbaby took it 11-7.

After what seemed like the court being mopped every other rally, Shorbagy clinched the game and match at 11-7. After the match, he said he loved the crowd and he loves coming to Malaysia. He added that both players continued the match because they did not want to disappoint the crowd. Shorbagy said that he was happy with the support from the spectators and also with the presence of officials from the Egyptian Embassy who there to catch all the action.

21-Aug, Day FOUR, QUARTERS:
Down to the semis at NuSentral

Taking place at the NuSentral shopping mall for the first time, the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open saw more upsets in both men's and women's events.

In the PSA $50k men's event Hong Kong's Max Lee beat Karim Abdel Gawad in five games to set up a semi-final against second-seeded Spaniard Borja Golan.

An Egyptian finalist is guaranteed in the top half after contrasting wins for Mohamed Elshorbagy and Tarek Momen, the #1 and #3 seeds. Shorbagy beat home hope Nafiizwan Adnan in straight games while Momen was taken to a decider before getting past Indian qualifier Mahesh Mangaonkar.

There was Egyptian success in the WSA $70k women's event too, as Nour El Tayeb produced another upset as she beat Madeline Perry, who retired twoards the end of the fourth game.

That sets up a semi-final against fellow former world junior champion Amanda Sobhy, who ended the run of newly-crowned world junior champion Habiba Mohamed in straight games.

In the top half of the draw Raneem El Welily survived a five-game test against Sarah-Jane Perry and the third seeds now meets home favourite Nicol David, who eased past Annie Au in straight games.

Quarter-Final Quick Reports ...
from Jason Lee

Today marked the start of the Quarterfinals for the Men’s and Women’s Event.A small crowd had started to build up by the time Max Lee and Karim Abdel Gawad started their match at 12.30pm. Seating was free but many preferred to stand and watch from the floors above over the glass balustrade surrounding the court. The spectators continued to build up all the way and peaked during the last match between Nicol David and Annie Au which concluded at 8.30pm.

Nicol David 3-0 Annie Au

Annie Au started very well in the first. She was making Nicol scamper around the court with her ball placement. The rest of the match went almost as expected; as Nicol started tightening her game, and retaliating with attacks of her own.

Annie was gradually worn down; mistakes started creeping into her more adventurous shots; and Nicol closed the match convincingly in three.

“I’m happy to win in three. Annie is not an easy player,” Nicol said.

“It’s always nice to play in a new venue. You see new people,” she said when commenting on the new 
venue. She also said that enjoyed the good support from her fans here.

Malaysia is to observe a day of mourning tomorrow for victims of the MH17 flight.
Nicol said that our hearts as a nation go out to the family and victims.

Raneem El Welily 3-2 Sarah-Jane Perry

It was five sets of crowd-pleasing squash. Raneem was moving very fluidly and made full use of her racquet
skill with consistency and accuracy.

Sarah seemed slightly and Raneem took the first. In the second, Raneem made a couple of unforced errors which gave the game to Sarah.

The third and fourth games consisted of a lot more attacking and retrieving from both players to the delight of the crowd. Raneem managed to take the third. In the fourth, there was a bit of contact when Sarah bumped into Raneem and the referee advised Sarah to “try not to be too physical”.

Muffled laughter could be heard from the crowd. Sarah opened the glass door to respond, “I don’t know what you mean.”

It was Sarah who reached game ball first at 10-9. Raneem levelled; 10-all. It was neck and neck. At 14-all, Sarah took the game with a stroke.

Raneem maintained her steady attack in the fifth and making Sarah scramble to all corners of the court. She clinched the game and match.

If we had some upsets in the first round of the women's event in KL, today started with an even bigger one as Nour El Tayeb beat second-seeded world champion Laura Massaro in four games.

The bottom half of the women's draw was further decimated as Habiba Mohamed beat another seed, this time Jenny Duncalf in four. Just one upset in the top half as Sarah-Jane Perry beat Malaysian sixth seed Low Wee Wern in four.

Less drama in the PSA $50k first round with just one upset as qualifier Mahesh Mangaonkar squeezed past Ong Beng Hee 12-10 in the fifth to leave Nafiizwan Adnan the last Malaysian in the draw.

Draws & Results

19-Aug, Day TWO:
Habiba and Delia gatecrash last 16,
Azlan qualifies ..

Day Two of the CIMB Malaysian Open saw a couple of huge upsets in round one of the WSA $70k event as newly-crowned world junior champion Habiba Mohamed stunned fourth seed Camille Serme and local wildcard Delia Arnold edged out fifth seed Alison Waters.

No such troubles for top seeds Nicol David and Laura Massaro as they moved one step closer to another KL showdown, but Malaysia's Low Wee Wern had to work hard to overcome Heba El Torky in 74 minutes, the longest match of the day - just.

Qualifying finals for the men's $50k event saw Azlan Iskandar - coming out of retirement in order to get some tough matches in preparation for representing Malaysia in the forthcoming Asian Games - ease past second seed Shaun Le Roux, the newly-crowned South African national champion, and his reward is an all-Malaysian meeting with Nafiizwan Adnan.

The other qualifiers were Lucas Serme, Mahesh Mangaonkar and Rex Hedrick.

Day Two quick reports
 

DRAWS & RESULTS

Nu venue for 2014 Malaysian Open
from The Star Online

For the first time since 2007, the Malaysian Open squash championship will move away from it’s well known venue of the The Curve in Damansara Perdana, to the Nu Sentral Mall located within the vicinity of KL Sentral.

The shift of venues is to accommodate the new dates of the competition, which have been brought forward to Aug 18-23, due to the Incheon Asian Games starting from Sept 19-Oct 4. Despite the change of dates and venue, the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) president Huang Ying How believes that the quality of the tournament will not be affected.

“For SRAM, we are quite excited and looking forward to the new venue and the change in dates is not really an issue,” said Ying How.

“It’s unfortunate that The Curve was unavailable to us during those dates but the Nu Sentral Mall is an ideal place for a tournament too.

“It is the beautiful mall that is also the transportation hub in the city and I believe it will also expose us to a different kind of crowd than what we had in the past years,” added Ying How.

Meanwhile, fresh from defending her Commonwealth Games gold medal, world No.1 Nicol David will set her sights on winning her ninth Malaysian Open title.

Nicol, who won seven straight titles from 2005-2011, is also the defending champion and will face a qualifier in the first round.

She will have third seed Raneem El Weleily of Egypt and Hong Kong’s Annie Au as company in her half of the draw. National No.2 Low Wee Wern is seeded sixth and faces Egypt’s Heba El Torky in the first round.

In the men’s competition, world No.3 Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt, compatriot and 2012 winner Tarek Momen, and Spain’s world No.7, Borja Golan will be the contenders.

The Malaysian men's challenge will be led by national No.1 Ong Beng Hee, Nafiizwan Adnan and Ivan Yuen.

Preparations in full swing in KL
Jason Lee reports

The CIMB Malaysian Open 2014 will commence on the 18th of August 2014. 

The men’s and women’s main draw will start on the 20th and 19th of August respectively.

Following the tradition of the previous championships, the early rounds including the qualifying will be played at the National Squash Centre, Bukit Jalil.

This year, the quarter finals onwards; commencing on Thursday, 21st of August for both the men’s and women’s event; will be held at NuSentral shopping centre.

NuSentral is located in vicinity of the KL Sentral transit hub. KL Sentral acts as a connecting hub for six rail networks which includes the country’s train and light rail systems.

Also included in the built-up area of KL Sentral are more shopping outlets, restaurants, hotels, as well as commercial and residential infrastructure. KL Sentral itself is located next to the suburb or locality of Brickfields; an area steep in history and alive with the hustle and bustle of old-world charm.

A juxtaposition of the modern and the traditional - it is somewhat representative of the country and its culture.



The team at the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) have been hard at work – putting together the final touches on the set-up of the tournament.

The infrastructure of the main all-glass court and the grandstand are gradually being built up.

The main court is in the process of being transported to the shopping centre. The promotional materials or rather, remainder of them are gradually being installed.

A huge part of the work at the shopping centre has to be done after-hours at night, to work around the shopping crowd. With only a few more days before the start of the championship, the excitement is certainly building up.

On behalf of the organising team here at SRAM, I would like to invite and welcome you all to a showcase of grit, determination and athleticism at its best.

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