Nicol
David
denied Hong Kong's Annie Au and Leo Au the first sibling
double in the Asian Squash Championships when the world number
one from Malaysia clinched her ninth women's title in the 18th staging
of the regional championships at the Sheikh Salem Al Sabah
International Squash Complex in Kuwait.
David,
the 31-year-old from Penang who has topped the world rankings for an
all-time record 109 months, first became Asian champion in 1998 - and
retained the biennial title over the next seven championships before
being unable to compete in the 2013 event.
Left-hander Annie Au, the world No.11 who came to Kuwait as the
defending champion, reached her third successive final after surviving a
75-minute five-game marathon against David's compatriot Delia Arnold
- the No.3 seed who ousted second-seeded Indian Dipika Pallikal
in the previous round.
But
David was too strong for the Hong Kong number one, beating third seed Au
12-10, 11-7, 11-8 in 35 minutes - not only to win her ninth title, but
also to establish a 17-year winning streak in the championships.
Leo Au,
Annie's younger brother ranked 36 in the world (pictured above with
David, centre, and sister Annie), reached the men's final for the
first time after a close-fought four-game win over Pakistan's Farhan
Zaman.
Au's
opponent was local hero Abdullah Al Muzayen, the Kuwait number
one who reached his second successive final against expectations after
beating the Pakistan number one Nasir Iqbal.
But Au
denied the hosts a first-time Kuwaiti champion when he beat Al Muzayen
11-7, 11-9, 13-11 in 47 minutes to become Hong Kong's first men's Asian
champion since 1992.