08/03/2009
KL OPEN
13th Time Lucky As Grainger Ends David's Unbeaten Run In KL Final
KL
Open 2009
Men's Draw
02-07 March, Kuala Lumpur, $53k |
Round One
04 Mar |
Quarters
05 Mar |
Semis
06 Mar |
Final
07 Mar |
[1]
Peter Barker (Eng)
11/3, 11/3, 11/4 (31m)
[Q] Alui Anwar Reda (Egy) |
Peter Barker
11-8, 11-2, 11-5 (40m)
Farhan Mehboob |
Peter Barker
11-7, 10-12, 11-3, 11-4 (61m)
Borja Golan |
Peter Barker
11-6, 11-2, 11-4 (52m)
Adrian Grant |
[6]
Farhan Mehboob (Pak)
7/11, 11/9, 11/4, 11/6 (56m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) |
[4]
Borja Golan (Esp)
11/5, 11/7, 11/2 (25m)
Jan Koukal (Cze) |
Borja Golan
11-7, 13-11, 11-5 (39m)
Yasir Butt |
[7]
Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/6, 11/7, 6/11, 11/9 (45m)
[Q] Yasir Butt (Pak) |
[Q] Chris Simpson (Eng)
11/3, 11/6, 4/11, 11/4 (28m)
[8] Mansoor Zaman (Pak) |
Chris Simpson
11-6, 13-11, 11-9 (57m)
Adrian Grant |
Adrian Grant
7-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 (61m)
Ong Beng Hee |
Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/9, 11/9, 8/11, 11/6 (73m)
[3] Adrian Grant (Eng) |
[Q] Aaron Frankcomb (Aus)
11/6, 5/11, 11/6, 8/11, 11/8 (90m)
[5] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) |
Aamir Atlas Khan
11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-1 (60m)
Ong Beng Hee |
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/3, 6/11, 11/4, 7/11, 11/6 (56m)
[2] Ong Beng Hee (Mas) |
Qualifying:
3rd March, Finals:
Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) 11/5, 11/6, 11/6 (45m)
Chris Simpson (Eng) bt Ivan Yuen (Mas) 11/7, 11/9, 11/9 (46m)
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Matthew Karwalski (Aus) 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 (37m)
Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak) 11/2, 11/2, 11/7 (26m)
2nd March, Round One:
Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt Kamran Khan (Mas) 7/11, 11/0, 12/10, 12/10 (64m)
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Elvinn Keo (Mas) 5/11, 11/4, 11/9, 11/8 (43m)
Chris Simpson (Eng) bt Graeme Wilson (Nzl) 11/6, 11/3, 4/11, 11/3 (39m)
Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (Mas) 9/11, 11/8, 11/9, 11/7 (64m)
Matthew Karwalski (Aus) bt Nafzahizam Adnan (Mas) 9/11, 11/4, 8/11,
11/6, 11/6 (53m)
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Choong Kam Hing (Mas) 11/8, 12/11, 11/6 (33m)
Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak) bt Le Roy Leong (Mas) 9/11, 11/7, 11/2, 11/8 (32m)
Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Ng Jo Wen (Mas) 11/2, 11/7, 11/7 (30m) |
KL
Open 2009
Women's Draw
02-07 March, Kuala Lumpur, $53k |
Round One
04 Mar |
Quarters
05 Mar |
Semis
06 Mar |
Final
07 Mar |
[1]
Nicol David (Mas)
11/6, 11/8, 11/7 (26m(
Madeline Perry (Irl) |
Nicol David
11-1, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9 (46m)
Jenny Duncalf |
Nicol David
9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (34m)
Rachael Grinham |
Nicol David
11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6 (51m)
Natalie Grainger |
[5]
Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
11/8, 11/7, 11/6 (30m)
Sharon Wee (Mas) |
[3]
Rachael Grinham (Aus)
14/12, 11/4, 12/10 (24m)
[Q] Annie Au (Hkg) |
Rachael Grinham
11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10 (63m)
Alison Waters |
[6]
Alison Waters (Eng)
6/11, 11/6, 11/9, 11/8 (45m)
Shelley Kitchen (Nzl) |
Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/1, 11/7, 1/11, 11/6 (40m)
[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) |
Omneya Abdel Kawy
11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 (42m)
Natalie Grainger |
Natalie Grainger
9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 (51m)
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro |
[Q] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
11/7, 11/7, 4/11, 19/17 (33m)
[4] Natalie Grainger (Usa) |
[Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
11/7, 17/15, 11/3 (26m)
[8] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (Eng) |
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro
11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (23m)
Natalie Grinham |
[Q] Lauren Briggs (Eng)
13/11, 11/8, 11/9 (29m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) |
Qualifying:
3rd Mar, Finals:
Annie Au (Hkg) bt Rebecca Chiu (Hkg) 11/9, 11/8, 11/7 (27m)
Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt Low Wee Wern (Mas) 11/5, 13/11, 11/8 (31m)
Lauren Briggs (Eng) bt Delia Arnold (Mas) 11/4, 11/6, 4/11, 11/6 (53m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) bt Emma Beddoes (Eng) 11/7, 11/5, 11/8 (39m)
2nd Mar, Round One:
Rebecca Chiu (Hkg) bt Joelle King (Nzl) 11/8, 11/8, 8/11, 9/11, 11/6 (57m)
Annie Au (Hkg) bt Lisa Camilleri (Aus) 11/9, 11/6, 4/11, 11/4 (30m)
Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt Lauren Siddall (Eng) 11/8, 8/11, 11/3, 11/5 (38m)
Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt Donna Urquhart (Aus) 12/10, 11/6, 11/1 (25m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Joshna Chinappa (Ind) 14/12, 11/3, 11/5 (29m)
Lauren Briggs (Eng) bt Kylie Lindsay (Nzl) 11/4, 11/6, 10/12, 6/11, 14/12 (45m)
Emma Beddoes (Eng) bt Annelize Naude (Ned) 7/11, 11/6, 11/3,
11/13, 11/3 (51m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) bt Lim Woke Yah (Mas) 11/9, 11/7, 6/11, 11/3 (32m) |
13th Time Lucky
As Grainger Ends David's Unbeaten Run In KL Final
In a sensational
climax of the women's CIMB KL Open at Berjaya Times Square in the
Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Natalie Grainger of the USA
stunned defending champion Nicol David in five games - thus ending the
17-month, 56-match, unbeaten WISPA World Tour run by the world number one
from Malaysia.
David - last beaten
in the World Open in Madrid in October 2007, since when she has won 12
titles in succession - went into the championship as firm favourite to win the
title for a sixth time.
In the final of the
$53,000 WISPA Gold event, Grainger put pressure on the local heroine from the
outset. The 31-year-old from Greenwich, who already had two Tour titles to her
name this year, won the first game then saved a game ball in the second before
eventually losing 12-10 as David drew level.
World No4 Grainger
moved ahead after winning the third game - but, again, the 25-year-old from
Penang struck back to force the match into a fifth game decider.
A backhand drop
took the US underdog to match-ball at 10-6 - then Grainger again delivered a
perfect winning drop response to a ball that David scraped off the back wall to
clinch victory.
An ecstatic
Grainger raised both arms aloft to celebrate her historic 11-8, 10-12, 11-7,
5-11, 11-6 upset after 51 minutes. It was 13th time 'lucky' for the WISPA
President who has lost 12 times to Nicol David since last beating her in October
2003!
"I took six or
seven poundings from Nicol as she is such a great champion and always closing
out," admitted Grainger afterwards. "But I feel that I have been playing well
the last two years, probably the most consistent of my life - and it all came
together today in front of this great audience."
David had no
excuses: "If you are not spot on against Natalie you are in trouble and, fair
play to her, she was great today," said the former champion. "You have to
accept it, I had to bring something more, but this time I couldn't get it on."
The final of the
men's $50,000 PSA Tour squash event was an all-English affair between
favourite Peter Barker and England team-mate Adrian Grant - the
third seed who ousted Malaysian hope Ong Beng Hee, the defending
champion, in the semi-finals.
Grant, who tumbled
over his opponent in mid court in the first game of the final, was unable to
reproduce the form he showed in the previous round as Barker recorded an 11-6,
11-2, 11-4 victory in 52 minutes over his fellow left-hander.
"It was a bit up
and down as I had a bad slip in the first game and my right hamstring jarred,"
said the disappointed runner-up. "After that I wasn't so confident moving."
Barker, whose PSA
Tour title tally now rises to 13, admitted that he tried to ignore Grant's
setback: "I definitely noted a bit of a change in his movement after he fell.
But I tried to carry on playing my own game - being steady and boringly
British!"
Grant Sets Up
All-English Final In KL
Third seed
Adrian Grant battled for 61 minutes to end local interest in the men's
CIMB KL Open when he upset defending champion Ong Beng Hee to set up
the first ever all-English final of the $50,000 PSA Tour squash event at
Berjaya Times Square in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
The left-hander
from London recovered from a game down to beat second-seeded Malaysian Beng Hee,
ranked three places higher in the world top 20, 7-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8.
"Beng Hee was
under pressure as defending champion and made some errors today that gave me the
advantage," said a delighted Grant, now in the 22nd Tour final of his career.
"It may be two British players in the final - but we'll be worth the admission
money!"
A downcast Ong
Beng Hee added: "After the re-draw it got tougher for me. I had gruelling
matches but Adrian played exceptionally well and deserved the victory. I am
going to come back stronger for the Malaysian Open though!"
Grant will face
England team-mate Peter Barker - who is also a left-hander and also from
London. The top seed faced fourth seed Borja Golan - and beat the
in-form Spaniard 11-7, 10-12, 11-3, 11-4 to set up his 18th final appearance.
Although the
final will be the Englishmen's fourth Tour meeting - it will be their first for
more than two years, and the first in a final.
Hopes of a
Malaysian on the winner's podium were well-and-truly kept alive in the women's
$53,000 WISPA World Tour Gold event when Penang queen Nicol David,
the favourite, beat Australian rival Rachael Grinham 9-11, 11-7, 11-5,
11-8.
Fresh from a
six-week training spell in Australia with former world number one Sarah
Fitz-Gerald, David is making her 2009 Tour debut in KL - and expected to win
her country's capital city open crown for the sixth time.
"I am trying to
get my momentum going for this year, but it is tough as all the girls are out to
get me," admitted the 25-year-old after her sixth win in a row over Grinham. "I
am just watching my back and trying to stay on the ball."
In the 49th
WISPA final of her career, David will meet another long-time Tour rival:
Natalie Grainger, the fourth seed from the USA, ended the run of England's
surprise semi-finalist Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, beating the eighth seed
9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 in 51 minutes.
"I finished the
fourth really strongly and managed to get a few tactics straight in my head,"
said Lengthorn later. "But Natalie came out too strong, a little too strong.
She is so precise that it is tough mentally and physically."
Grainger, the
WISPA President who is looking for her third title this year, has reached a
significant milestone in her illustrious career: The 31-year-old from Greenwich
is celebrating her 40th Tour final appearance.
Laura Lands
First Win Over Natalie In KL
In her first ever
victory over the world number two, England's Laura Lengthorn-Massaro
beat second seed Natalie Grinham in the CIMB KL Open
to claim an unexpected berth in the semi-finals of the $53,000 WISPA World
Tour Gold squash event in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Only days after
celebrating a career-high world No7 ranking, the 25-year-old from Lancashire
beat Grinham junior, now representing the Netherlands, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 to
record one of the finest wins of her career.
Grinham, runner-up
for the past two years, was still suffering the after-effects of whooping cough
- and had only recently returned to full-time training.
The win takes the
eighth seed through to a clash with another Natalie - Pan American Games
gold medallist Natalie Grainger. The fourth seed from the USA took four
games to overcome Egyptian star Omneya Abdel Kawy 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9.
Local heroine
Nicol David did not have it all her own way at the top of the draw. The
top-seeded Malaysian, going for her sixth title, won the first game against
Jenny Duncalf and led 10-6 in the second. But the fifth seed from England
held her nerve to level the match before David raised her game to record an
11-1, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9 victory after 46 minutes.
World number one
David will now take on Rachael Grinham for a place in the final. The
third seed from Australia was taken the full distance by Alison Waters
before ultimately beating the sixth seed from England 11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8,
12-10 after 63 minutes.
Local hero Ong
Beng Hee was taken to five games for the second time in 24 hours in the
men’s $50,000 PSA Tour event. The second seed from Penang, winner of the
title 12 months ago, took exactly one hour to overcome Pakistan's fifth seed
Aamir Atlas Khan 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-1.
Beng Hee will now
face Adrian Grant after the third seed survived an all-English clash with
qualifier Chris Simpson, winning 11-6, 13-11, 11-9.
There will also be
English interest in the other semi where top seed Peter Barker takes on
Borja Golan, the fourth seed from Spain.
Londoner Barker
toppled fellow left-hander Farhan Mehboob, the sixth seed from Pakistan,
11-8, 11-2, 11-5, while Golan also despatched a Pakistani in his 11-7, 13-11,
11-5 victory over qualifier Yasir Butt.
Nicol David On
Song In 2009 Campaign Opener In KL
Malaysian squash
star Nicol David began her 2009 campaign on home soil in fine style when
she beat Madeline Perry in straight games in the first round of the
CIMB KL Open, the $53,000 WISPA World Tour Gold event in the
Malaysian capital.
Undefeated since
October 2007, the world number one from Penang is seeded to reach the women’s KL
Open final for the ninth time since 1999 - and win the title for the sixth time!
David despatched
Perry, the 10-time Irish champion from Belfast, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 in just 26
minutes – and will now face England’s Jenny Duncalf for a place in the
semi-finals. Duncalf, the fifth seed from Harrogate, reduced Malaysian interest
in the women’s event by 50% when she beat Malacca-born Sharon Wee 11-8,
11-7, 11-6.
Second seed
Natalie Grinham is another WISPA star starting out on her 2009 trail. The
Australian-born Dutch 30-year-old defeated English qualifier Lauren Briggs
13-11, 11-8, 11-9 - and will meet another English opponent when she faces eighth
seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro en-route for her expected place in the final
for the third year in a row.
Two seeds failed to
claim their anticipated places in the second round of the men’s $50,000 PSA
Tour event. Pakistani qualifier Yasir Butt secured the biggest scalp
by beating Egypt’s No7 seed Omar Mosaad 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9.
English qualifier
Chris Simpson continued his recent run of form with an 11-3, 11-6, 4-11,
11-4 defeat of eighth seed Mansoor Zaman, also from Pakistan.
Simpson will now
face fellow countryman Adrian Grant – but the third seed from London was
kept on court for 73 minutes before prevailing 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6 over
unseeded Egyptian Tarek Momen.
Local hero Ong
Beng Hee was also taken the full distance before stemming the advances of
the sport’s bright new star Mohamed El Shorbagy. The 18-year-old twice
recovered from behind to force the match into a decider – but defending champion
Beng Bee battled on to win 11-3, 6-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6 after 56 minutes.
WISPA Trials Mobile
Streaming In Pioneering Initiative At KL Open
Action from this week's semi-finals and final of the CIMB KL
Open - the first Women's International Squash Players Association (WISPA)
Gold event of the year - can be viewed on mobile phones for the first time
in a ground-breaking trial that extends squash's regular TV and streaming
options.
"WISPA have partnered with Squash Stars who will arrange for the
uploading so that the potential of this medium can be assessed," commented WISPA
Chief Executive Andrew Shelley. "Squash Stars - who have spearheaded
this, and for whom Nicol David is a leading light - have mobile platform
arrangements that make this possible. While it will not be live for this
experiment, it will be free of charge and available worldwide."
The service can be automatically accessed from mobile phones by
logging into
www.squashstars.com/mobile via phone web browsers.
Local star Nicol David also begins her 2009 campaign as
top seed in the $53,500 CIMB KL Open, from 4-7 March. Unbeaten since
October 2007, the world number one from Malaysia will be hoping to reach the
final for the ninth time since 1999 - and win the title for the sixth time!
David will arrive in KL fresh from a lengthy New Year training
session in Melbourne with former world number one Sarah Fitz-Gerald. But
the 25-year-old from Penang faces a tough opening match against in-form Irish
champion Madeline Perry, the world No9 from Belfast.
The favourite will undoubtedly renew her Tour rivalry with the
Australian Grinham sisters in her country's capital city. David is expected to
face third seed Rachael Grinham, the world No3, in the semi-finals - and
thereafter second seed Natalie Grinham, now flying the Dutch flag, in the
final, for the third year in a row!
But fourth seed Natalie Grainger cannot be ruled out: The
US champion already has two WISPA World Tour titles under her belt this
year - and will be looking to upset the David/Grinham KL roadshow in a bid to
extend her Tour title tally
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