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Koukal &
Chinappa Celebrate KL Success
Top seed Jan
Koukal, from the Czech Republic, and fourth seed Joshna Chinappa,
from India, lifted the men's and women's trophies, respectively, in the NSC
Series No6 championship at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in
the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Czech number one
Koukal had his toughest test in the men's $10,000 PSA World Tour event so
far - and twice had to fight back from behind before overcoming Pakistan's
second seed Yasir Butt 9-11, 15-13, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5 in 82 minutes, the
longest match of the tournament.
The triumph marks
the ninth title of 26-year-old Koukal's career - but his first this year.
The climax of the
$16,000 women's WISPA World Tour event saw third-seeded Malaysian
teenager Low Wee Wern jump to a 2/0 lead.
But the 18-year-old
from Penang, who ousted top seed Delia Arnold in the previous round, was
unable to maintain the momentum.
Chinappa, the
22-year-old world No41 from Chennai who had beaten the Malaysian in two previous
Tour finals in KL, regained the upper hand and battled to a 7-11, 7-11, 11-8,
11-5, 16-14 victory in 51 minutes.
The win raises
Chinappa's Tour title tally to three - all of which have been in clashes with
Low.
Low Marks Tour
High In KL
Teenager Low Wee
Wern survived the longest match of her career to reach the biggest WISPA
World Tour squash final of her life when she upset top-seeded fellow
Malaysian Delia Arnold in the women's semi-finals of the NSC Series
No6 championship at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the
Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Third seed Low, the
reigning Asian Junior Champion, stemmed a fight back by Arnold in the $16,000
event to beat her higher-ranked compatriot 11-9, 14-12, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5 in 80
minutes.
The 18-year-old
from Penang - now in the seventh Tour final of her career - will face India's
Joshna Chinappa, the fourth seed who also recorded a notable five-game upset
by beating second-seeded Malaysian Sharon Wee 11-6, 8-11, 14-16, 11-8,
11-8.
Chinappa, the
22-year-old world No41 from Chennai, is celebrating her eighth WISPA final - and
her third in Malaysia against Low Wee Wern.
By contrast, there
were no surprises in the men's $10,000 PSA World Tour squash event which
will climax in a final between the two top seeds.
Second seed
Yasir Butt despatched fellow Pakistani Waqar Mehboob, the No6 seed,
11-6, 11-3, 11-7 while Czech favourite Jan Koukal put paid to an
all-Pakistan final when he battled to a 46-minute 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3 victory
over eighth seed Arshad Iqbal Burki.
Malaysians Crash
Out In KL
Pakistanis led a
wholesale rout of Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur where all four local players
competing in the men's quarter-finals of the NSC Series No6 championship
failed to make it through to the semi-finals of the $10,000 PSA World Tour
squash event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the Malaysian
capital.
Eighth seed
Arshad Iqbal Burki claimed the biggest scalp – the 25-year-old from Peshawar
beating KL-based third seed Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 13-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-9.
Nafiizwan's
unseeded brother Nafzahizam Adnan was also a casualty, going down 11-5,
11-7, 16-14 to sixth-seeded Pakistani Waqar Mehboob.
A Pakistan finalist
is assured as Mehboob, 17, from Peshawar, takes on compatriot Yasir Butt
in the semis. Second seed Butt defeated Malaysia's No7 seed Muhd Asyraf Azan
14-12, 14-12, 12-10.
By contrast, three
Malaysians will line up in the semi-finals of the women's $16,000 WISPA World
Tour event.
Top seed Delia
Arnold despatched Welsh opponent Deon Saffery 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 and
will now face Low Wee Wern in an all-Malaysian semi. Third seed Low beat
fellow countrywoman Lim Yoke Wah 11-2, 11-4, 13-11.
India's Joshna
Chinappa stands in the way of an all-Malaysian final. The fourth seed from
Chennai defeated Canada's Miranda Ranieri 11-8, 13-11, 11-9 and will now
meet second-seeded Malaysian Sharon Wee for a place in the final. Wee
took out Siti Munirah Jusoh 11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 11-7.
Adnan Brothers
Through to KL Quarters
Malaysia's
Nafzahizam Adnan scored a surprise first round win in the NSC Series No6
championship in Kuala Lumpur to join his third-seeded younger brother
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan in the quarter-finals of the $10,000 PSA World
Tour squash event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the
Malaysian capital.
Nafzahizam Adnan,
24, from KL, defied the PSA world rankings by upsetting Ritwik Bhattacharya,
the fourth seed from India ranked more than 50 places higher, 7-11, 12-10,
12-14, 11-4, 11-5 in 56 minutes.
Higher-ranked Mohd
Nafiizwan Adnan was also taken to five games by an Indian opponent before
prevailing 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 13-11 over 20-year-old qualifier Harinder
Pal Sandhu.
There was further
unexpected local success in the men's event when Elvinn Keo overcame
Pakistan's No5 seed Khawaja Adil Maqbool 13-15, 11-7, 12-10, 12-10. The
unseeded 21-year-old from KL will now line-up against top seed Jan Koukal,
the Czech number one who defeated Malaysian Ivan Yuen 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.
There were no
surprises in the women's $16,000 WISPA World Tour event, with five local
players claiming their anticipated places in the last eight. Top seeds Delia
Arnold and Sharon Wee are on course to meet in an all-Malaysian
final.
Arnold, the event
favourite, brushed aside Singapore qualifier Pamela Chua 11-3, 11-3, 11-5
while Wee wiped out fellow countrywoman Rachael Goh, also a qualifier,
11-4, 11-9, 11-5.
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