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CIMB Malaysian Open
NSC, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
23-28 July 2007 |
Sponsor
www.cimb.com.my |
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MEN'S DRAW
WOMEN'S
DRAW
WISPA Unveil Live Scoreboard At Back-to-Back Asian
Gold Events
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2006 Event
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Men's Qualifying
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Women's Qualifying
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David &
Iskandar Celebrate Local Malaysian Open Double
Malaysians
Mohd Azlan
Iskandar
and Nicol David recorded a notable local double in
Kuala Lumpur by claiming the men's and women's trophies,
respectively, in the CIMB Malaysian Open Squash
Championships.
The triumph
marked fifth seed Iskandar's third successive upset in 48
hours. After making his breakthrough in the quarter-finals
when he despatched England's defending champion Adrian
Grant, the 2004 champion despatched second seed Lee
Beachill in the semi-finals of the 4-star PSA Tour
men's event.
In his
second PSA Tour final in two months, the Sarawak-born
25-year-old survived an opening game tie-break against top
seed Stewart Boswell before romping to a sensational
11-10 (3-1), 11-8, 11-4 victory over the Australian in 44
minutes.
The KL win
follows Iskandar's unexpected triumph in May's North
American Open in San Francisco and confirms a
significant return to form for the former world No12 who
currently stands at 19 in the PSA World Rankings.
The result,
however, will do little to help Boswell celebrate his 29th
birthday tomorrow (Sunday).
The final of
the women's WISPA World Tour Gold event consolidated
Nicol David's status as the most consistent player in the
women's game.
Remarkably,
the 23 year-old from Penang was appearing in her 14th
successive Tour final since reaching her first World Open
climax in Hong Kong in December 2005.
Her surprise
opponent Tania Bailey, the fourth seed from England,
had stunned observers in the previous round by beating
Australia's No2 seed Natalie Grinham in straight
games.
But the
Lincolnshire lass was unable to match the fire-power of the
local heroine as David took just 36 minutes to win 9-4, 9-3,
9-2 and claim her country's prestigious Open title for the
third time in a row.
The title
success brings David's WISPA career tally to 20 titles -
equalling the current haul of Dutch rival Vanessa
Atkinson, but still three behind Australia's Rachael
Grinham, her opponent in the KL semi-finals.
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CIMB
Malaysian Open
2007
Men's Draw
23-28 July |
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Round One
24-25 July |
Quarters
26-July |
Semis
27-July |
Final
28-July |
[1]
Stewart Boswell (Aus)
11/6, 11/9, 11/4 (30m)
Omar Mosaad (Egy) |
Stewart Boswell
11/4, 11/2, 11/4 (20m)
Yasir Butt |
Stewart Boswell
11-9, 11-2, 11-7 (36m)
Cameron Pilley |
Stewart Boswell
11-10 (3-1), 11-8, 11-4 (44m)
Azlan Iskandar |
[8] Aamir
Atlas Khan (Pak)
9/11, 11/7, 11/6, 11/9 (39m)
[Q] Yasir Butt (Pak) |
[4] Ong
Beng Hee (Mas)
11/8, 12/14, 9/11, 15/13, 11/7 (66m)
[Q] Tarek Momen (Egy) |
Ong Beng Hee
11/8, 11/8, 6/11, 11/4 (39m)
Cameron Pilley |
[6]
Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/6, 11/3, 11/2 (21m)
Bradley Ball (Eng) |
Shahid
Zaman (Pak)
11/4, 11/4, 11/6 (16m)
[5] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) |
Azlan Iskandar
11/8, 11/8, 11/9 (58m)
Adrian Grant |
Azlan Iskandar
6-11, 2-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-9, 11-2 (64m)
Lee Beachill |
Mohd
Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)
11/6, 11/9, 11/4 (29m)
[3] Adrian Grant (Eng) |
[Q] Farhan
Mehboob (Pak)
6/11, 4/11, 11/2, 11/6, 11/7 (36m)
[7] Mansoor Zaman (Pak) |
Farhan
Mehboob
11/4, 11/5, 11/5 (22m)
Lee Beachill |
[Q] Sherif
Kamel (Egy)
11/6, 11/2, 11/3 (21m)
[2] Lee Beachill (Eng) |
Men's Qualifying
Men's qualifying
finals:
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt
Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9
(32m)
Yasir Butt (PAK) bt
Kashif Shuja (NZL) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11,
11-5 (40m)
Sherif Kamel (EGY) bt
Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 7-11,
11-10 (4-2) (57m)
Farhan Mehboob (PAK)
bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5
(36m)
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CIMB
Malaysian Open
2007
Women's Draw
23-28 July |
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Round One
24-25 July |
Quarters
26-July |
Semis
27-July |
Final
28-July |
[1] Nicol David (Mas)
9/2, 9/1, 9/5 (19m)
Tricia Chuah (Mas) |
Nicol David
9/4, 9/3, 9/0 (27m)
Omneya Abdel Kawy |
Nicol David
0-9, 9-2, 9-5, 4-9, 9-4 (72m)
Rachel Grinham |
Nicol David
9-4, 9-3, 9-2 (36m)
Tania Bailey |
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
9/6, 9/0, 9/2 (15m)
[Q] Sharon Wee (Mas) |
[3] Rachel Grinham (Aus)
6/9, 9/0, 9/6, 9/3 (45m)
[Q] Engy Kheirallah (Egy) |
Rachel Grinham
9/2, 9/1, 9/0 (27m)
Vicky Botwright |
[5] Vicky Botwright (Eng)
9/2, 9/2, 9/5 (18m)
[Q] Lim Woke Yah (Mas) |
[Q] Kasey Brown (Aus)
8/10, 8/10, 9/0, 9/5, 9/7 (87m)
[7] Madeline Perry (Irl) |
Kasey Brown
9/4, 9/7, 9/5 (50m)
Tania Bailey |
Tania Bailey
9-2, 9-4, 9-0 (28m)
Natalie Grinham |
Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
9/2, 9/1, 9/7 (28m)
[4] Tania Bailey (Eng) |
Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
9/3, 9/3, 9/3 (34m)
[8] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) |
Jenny Duncalf
9/1, 9/10, 4/9, 10/8, 9/4 (82m)
Natalie Grinham |
Alison Waters (Eng)
9/6, 9/0, 9/1 (22m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) |
Women's
Qualifying:
Women's qualifying
finals:
Kasey Brown (AUS) bt
Elise Ng (HKG) 9-2, 9-2, 9-1 (30m)
Sharon Wee (MAS) bt
Delia Arnold (MAS) 9-6, 8-10, 9-6, 9-3
(58m)
Lim Yoke Wah (MAS) bt
Line Hansen (DEN) 9-4, 10-8, 9-7 (30m)
Engy Kheirallah (EGY)
bt Joshna Chinappa (IND) 9-2, 9-2, 9-5 (17m)
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Azlan &
Bailey Upset Second Seeds
Malaysia's
Mohd Azlan
Iskandar
and England's Tania Bailey secured surprise places in
the finals of the CIMB Malaysian Open Squash
Championships after notable upsets in the semi-finals in
Kuala Lumpur.
Iskandar, the
2004 champion who is the 4-star PSA Tour event's fifth
seed, made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals when he
despatched England's No3 seed
Adrian Grant
- the defending champion - in straight games.
The
Sarawak-born 25-year-old then pulled off one of his best wins
in recent times when he beat second seed Lee Beachill.
In a dramatic 64-minute clash which delighted the KL crowd,
Iskandar fought back from two games down to beat his second
English opponent in 24 hours 6-11, 2-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-9,
11-2 - thereby registering his first ever victory over the
former world No1.
In his 15th
Tour final, Iskandar will meet Stewart Boswell, the
top-seeded Australian who has reached his 29th Tour
final in KL without dropping a game.
The
28-year-old from Canberra defeated fellow Australia Cameron
Pilley 11-9, 11-2, 11-7. Pilley, the sixth seed, produced
a stunning quarter-final performance to upset local hero
Ong Beng Hee - the fourth seed and two-times former
champion - in four games.
In the women's
WISPA World Tour Gold championship, England's fourth
seed Tania Bailey stunned observers when she beat
Australia's No2 seed Natalie Grinham in straight games.
Since winning
a historic three Commonwealth Games gold medals in her
home country last year, Grinham has become one of the most
in-form players on the WISPA Tour - reaching nine Tour finals
and defeating nemesis Nicol David in April's Seoul
Open final to win her 11th crown.
But today
belonged to Bailey - who scored one of the biggest scalps of
her recent career by crushing the younger Grinham sister 9-2,
9-4, 9-0 in just 28 minutes.
The other
semi-final nearly produced an even bigger upset when
Rachael Grinham - the senior of the Toowoomba twosome -
extended Malaysian star Nicol David to five games. David, the
world number one going for a hat-trick of successive Malaysian
Open titles, failed to score a singe point in the opening
game.
But the
country's most successful international sportswoman lifted her
game to see off the Aussie challenge - beating third seed
Grinham 0-9, 9-2, 9-5, 4-9, 9-4 in 72 minutes.
Butt Beats
Shuja To Claim Malaysian Open Qualifier
Pakistani
teenager Yasir Butt upset an opponent ranked 70 world
ranking places higher in today's (Tuesday) qualifying finals of
the CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships to claim a
place in the first round of the men's PSA Tour event in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Local interest
in the
WISPA World Tour
Gold
championship doubled after Sharon Wee and Lim Yoke Wah
also survived the women's qualifiers.
Butt, a
19-year-old world junior championships runner-up, defeated New
Zealand's world No48 Kashif Shuja and will now meet
compatriot Aamir Atlas Khan, the No8 seed, in Wednesday's
first round.
Farhan
Mehboob
also secured a
qualifying slot for Pakistan when he beat Egypt's higher-ranked
Omar Abdel Aziz 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5. The 18-year-old
from Peshawar also faces a fellow countryman in the first round
when he takes on seventh seed Mansoor Zaman, also from
Peshawar.
Sharon Wee beat
fellow Malaysian Delia Arnold 9-6, 8-10, 9-6, 9-3 in the
women's qualifiers - and will now meet Egypt's sixth seed
Omneya Abdel Kawy.
Lim Yoke Wah
scored a notable victory when she beat Line Hansen. The
higher-ranked Dane has won three WISPA Tour titles in KL since
May - but the 21-year-old Malaysian delighted local fans when
she won 9-4, 10-8, 9-7 to set up a surprise first round
encounter with England's fifth seed
Vicky Botwright.
WISPA Unveil Live Scoreboard At Back-to-Back Asian Gold Events
The world's
leading women squash players will be action in two back-to-back WISPA
World Tour Gold championships in Asia over the next two weeks - at
which the players' association will also launch its new Live
Scoreboard.
Malaysia's world No1
Nicol David will be top seed at both the CIMB Malaysian Open,
from 25-28 July, followed by the CIMB Singapore Masters, from 1-4
August.
Malaysian
Open qualifying gets underway today (Monday) at the National Squash
Centre in Bukit Jalil. All eyes will be on local star Nicol David,
who will be defending the title she won for the second time last year in
her fourth successive final.
The
23-year-old from Penang will be looking forward to being in action in the
later stages of the event on an all-glass court erected at KL's Curve
Shopping Mall - as part of a Squash Malaysia initiative to bring major
events directly to the general public.
David is
expected to meet second seed Natalie Grinham in Saturday's final.
It will be the pair's first meeting since the Australian beat her rival in
the Seoul Open climax in South Korea in April, bringing to an end
David's 51-match unbeaten run.
CIMB,
the Kuala Lumpur headquartered bank will also be title sponsoring the new
Singapore Masters event to be played at the Kallang Squash Centre.
The new event, hosted by Singapore SRA, brings the top WISPA stars back to
Singapore for the first time for three years.
The CIMB Malaysian and Singapore
events mark the start of the new WISPA Live Scoreboard which will see
scores of matches in play updated instantly on the WISPA website
www.wispa.net
- enabling enthusiasts around the world to be completely up to date with
matches in play from many WISPA World Tour events, point by point.
On the eve
of the two events, England's Jenny Duncalf has been elevated to No8
seed following the last-minute withdrawal of Vanessa Atkinson, the
former World Open champion from the Netherlands, who has been forced out
by a shoulder injury.
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