Natalie Grinham
11-6, 12-14, 11-8, 11-6 (48m)
Raneem El Weleily
Delia Arnold (Mas)
11/8, 11/7, 5/11, 11/1 (28m) [2] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
Massaro Claims Second World Series Title After KL Win
Laura
Massaro
recorded her second ever World Series title after coming through to win
the 2013 CIMB KL Open.
The
final, held in front of crowds at the Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur,
was without the two top seeds, with Nicol David falling to Massaro in
yesterday’s semi-final, and Raneem El Weleily falling in the second round
by way of Natalie Grinham.
Massaro, world ranked No.3, showed excellent
form right from the first round, in which she defeated experienced Latasha
Khan of the USA. She then beat in-form Line Hansen in the second
round, following the Dane’s upset of Rachael Grinham in their opening
clash.
Her run continued with a strong four-game win
over Irishwoman Madeline Perry to set up her excellent defeat of
seven-time world champion, Nicol David.
Her opponent in today’s final will also be
thrilled at a World Series final finish. Alison Waters had twelve months
out of the game with an Achilles injury in 2011, and spent much of last season
rebuilding her form and climbing back up the world rankings. She held the No.35
spot at this time last year but has since recovered to sit at No.5 in the
world.
Waters faced a tricky opening tie against
Joey Chan of Hong Kong, whom she beat in a frantic five-games. Her form
steadied as she beat Australian Kasey Brown in four games in the second
round, and saw an excellent win against higher seed Nour El Sherbini in a
five-game thriller to reach the semi’s.
A semi-final contest against Joelle King
swung Waters’ way with the help of two tie-break deciders, to allow the
Englishwoman her first World Series final since 2010’s Australian Open.
The first World Series final since that
Australian Open to hold two British finalists, both Massaro and Waters were up
for the challenge, and it was Massaro who took the first game with by a narrow
11-9 margin.
As the match progressed Massaro’s good form
continued to be evident, whilst Waters, having played three more games than her
opponent this week, began to slow.
Still competitive, Massaro broke away earlier in
the second game to double her lead 11-7, before completing the win in the third
to record her 11th WSA World Tour title, and second World Series title of her
career.
Massaro tweeted to fans and followers after the
match, saying: “I won!! KL Open champion. My 2nd ever World Series title, so
excited! Massive thanks to everyone who helped me achieve my win this week! You
know who you are! Couldn't do it without you!”
After an excellent campaign, the English pair
will now focus on the next World Series event on the WSA calendar, the Allam
British Open in May. With the English contingent proving strong in Malaysia,
hopes will be high heading into the event on home soil.
No Substitute For Experience In
KL Open Round Two
Natalie Grinham
stunned audiences in Malaysia after beating Raneem El Weleily in four
games.
The Dutchwoman again proved that she can continue to compete at the highest
levels of women’s squash after defeating the No.2 seed in the second round of
the WSA World Series CIMB KL Open at the National Squash Centre, Kuala Lumpur.
Grinham sprang one of just two upsets in round two, recording her first victory
over the Egyptian Weleily since 2006. The 35-year-old will now face seventh
seed Joelle King of New Zealand in tomorrow’s quarter-final, following
the world No.7’s lengthy five-game defeat of France’s Camille Serme. The
pair had battled to the tiebreak in three of their five games before King closed
out the win in 90-minutes.
The other upset came from experienced Irishwoman Madeline Perry, who
dashed home hopes by beating sixth seed Low Wee Wern in a marathon
five-game tussle. A narrow tie-break first game went in favour of the world
No.11, but the Malaysian came back to hold a 2-1 lead over the 36-year-old.
Perry returned fire however, and stormed back to claim her place in the
quarter-finals.
Perry will face No.3 seed Laura Masasro tomorrow, as the Englishwoman
dispatched unseeded Line Hansen in straight games, despite a long
tiebreak opener, in 30-minutes.
Home favourite Nicol David continued her campaign for her first title of
2013, moving past the challenge of Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy in a
closely fought three game win. The world No.1 will now face Jenny Duncalf
in the last eight, having seen the Englishwoman dispatch Dipika Pallikal
of India in a four-game contest.
Fifth seed Alison Waters was able to get the better of Australian
opponent, 13th seed Kasey Brown in a 50-minute, four game clash. The
Englishwoman will now face fourth seed Nour El Sherbini, following the
talented teenager’s three-game dispatch of Hong Kong’s Annie Au.
Tomorrow’s quarter-final draw will move to an all-glass court based at the
Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur.
Strong
Opening Round For Top Seeds In KL
Round one of the WSA World Series CIMB KL Open yielded few surprises at
the Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today.
Playing in front of home crowd, top seed
Nicol David kick-started her 2013 campaign with a strong win over qualifier
Siyoli Waters of South Africa in just over half an hour, whilst third,
sixth, seventh and eighth seeds Laura Massaro, Low Wee Wern,
Joelle King and Jenny Duncalf all made it through unscathed in
straight games.
Number two seed Raneem El Weleily,
looking to upset David for a second successive tournament following her
Cleveland Classic win in Febrary, suffered a lapse in concentration against
home-hopeful Delia Arnold. The world No.2 had taken a commanding
two-game lead against the Malaysian, before allowing Arnold a foothold in the
contest to claim the third game. The Egyptian recovered well in the fourth
however to hammer home an 11-1 game and close out the contest.
In round
two, David will face Omneya Abdel Kawy who recovered from letting
two-games slip against Aisling Blake to progress to the next round,
whilst Weleily will face Natalie Grinham who defeated Malaysian qualifier
Zulhijjah Binti Azan in a short 19-minute match.
Fourth seed Nour El Sherbini nearly suffered defeat at the hand of fellow
Egyptian Nour El Tayeb. The prodigal teenager let a two-game lead slip
against her compatriot, who recovered well to draw level and held five-match
balls against Sherbini. The world No.4 battled hard in the final stages however
to recover the deficit and won the match 14-12 in the tiebreak. Sherbini will
face Annie Au in tomorrow’s round two, after the Hong Kong international
defeat English qualifier Emma Beddoes in a deceptively close three-game
win.
Also from Hong Kong, Joey Chan came close
to springing an upset against fifth seed Alison Waters during a
cat-and-mouse five-game affair. Chan twice took the lead against the British
national champion, but was unable to close out the upset in the final stages.
Waters will face Kasey Brown in round two following the Australian’s
50-minute straight-games win over promising English teenager Emily Whitlock.
Line Hansen
becomes the only unseeded player in the KL Open second round tomorrow, after the
world No.23 from Denmark defeated former world No.1 Rachael Grinham in a
surprising three-game upset. Hansen will face Laura Massaro in round two.
Preview
David Looking To Home Advantage For First 2013 Win
World No.1 Nicol David will be looking to kick-start her 2013
campaign in two weeks in the first WSA World Series event of the year,
the CIMB KL Open Squash Championships.
For the first time, the $70,000 World
Series Gold event, held at the Berjaya Times Square Shopping
Mall, Kuala Lumpur, boasts a 32-player draw and features 24 of the
top 30 WSA World Tour players.
Having seen defeat in the final of her
first event of the WSA calendar in February’s Cleveland Classic, the
seven-time World Open champion will see this event in her home country
as the ideal springboard onto seventh successive year at the top of the
women’s rankings.
Despite the home advantage, David will
face stern challenges as she looks to win the title for the ninth time
in ten final appearances. Her closest competitor Raneem El Weleily is
seeded second for the event, and the Egyptian will be confident having
beaten David to last month’s Cleveland Classic. The world No.2 also saw
success on Malaysian turf last year, after clinching the Malaysian Open
title against the top seed back in September. El Weleily will face home
hope Delia Arnold in the first round, and could meet seventh seedJoelle
King or ninth seed Camille Serme in a potential quarter-final
clash.
Number three seed Laura Massaro will
face American stalwart Latasha Khan in the top half of the first
round draw, and could face sixth seed Low Wee Wern or Madeline
Perry in the quarters.
Last year’s surprise package in the KL
Open was qualifier Nour El Sherbini, who made it through to the
semi-finals by beating Jenny Duncalf and Rachael Grinham.
This year, the seventeen-year-old is seeded fourth the event, and will
face fellow Egyptian Nour El Tayeb in the opening round. The
teenager could then face last year’s runner-up Annie Au in round
two followed by fifth seed Alison Waters in a potentially
difficult draw.
Waters will start her KL campaign
against Hong Kong international Joey Chan, whilst sixth seed Low
Wee Wern, also of Malaysia, will face Donna Urquhart. Other
seeded players Joelle King, Jenny Duncalf, Camille Serme and Annie Au,
along with top seeded David, will face qualifying entrants to be
confirmed the day before round one.
Qualifying rounds begin on the 26th
March, with round one commencing on the 27th.
