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David & Grant Secure Malaysian Open Titles

Malaysian star Nicol David thrilled local crowds today (Sunday) at the National Squash Centre at Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur when she prevailed in a dramatic five-game women's final of the CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships to successfully defend the title she won for the first time last year.

Second seed David, the world No2, resisted a comeback by Tania Bailey to beat the eighth seed from England 9-4, 9-6, 2-9, 5-9, 9-3 in 85 minutes - while Adrian Grant provided English success in the men's final when he fought back from a game down to triumph 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 over sixth-seeded Australian Cameron Pilley.

David's success brings to an end a glorious July on the WISPA World Tour for the world champion from Penang: Victory in the Qatar Airways Challenge in India earlier in the month, coupled with her hard-fought triumph on home soil in Malaysia's premier squash event, will ensure that 22-year-old David will regain the world number one ranking in the August WISPA list.

"Tania came back strong and didn't let me get on the T," said Nicol David after registering her 12^th WISPA title success. "She started to play her fast game very well and I found it difficult to get refocused but in the last game I knew I had to make her work hard and take some pressure.

"I used the positive energy of the crowd to pull me through and I am delighted to have won in front of all my family, friends and supporters."

Bailey is also enjoying a breakthrough year on the WISPA Tour since winning the British National crown for the first time in February. Seeded only to reach the last eight in KL, the 26-year-old world No8 from Stamford in Lincolnshire defeated world No1 Vanessa Atkinson in the quarter-finals, then third seed Natalie Grinham in a 73-minute semi-final marathon.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel after last night's semi but while my legs were a bit heavy at the start I began to get going well," said Bailey after her surprise final appearance.

"I never give up, but I wanted the fourth so much I killed myself winning it! I have proved to myself that I am back with the top girls so it has been a really great week."

Adrian Grant made his breakthrough in his first Malaysian Open appearance when he beat local hero Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the 2004 champion who was the event's top seed, in the semi-finals. Pilley, a 6' 4" tall Australian from New South Wales , drew the first blood - but the left-hander from London came back to clinch his 11^th PSA Tour title after 60 minutes.

"Physically I felt fine but got butterflies after five minutes of the first," said the new men's Malaysian Open champion afterwards. "He had come out flying and caught me off guard and it took me a while to get into control".

Pilley was pleased with his performance: "It is my first tournament for a few months and hopefully I will take some confidence from here into the World Open.

"I am over the moon. I was aiming to get to the semis but I am really stoked to reach the final. Adrian was too strong at the last hurdle though."

Grant Topples Top Seed Iskandar In Malaysian Open

In a day of further upsets in the CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships, England 's third seed Adrian Grant disappointed domestic hopes of a third successive local men's champion when he despatched top-seeded Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar in straight games in the semi-finals at the National Squash Centre at Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur.

The left-handed Londoner defeated Iskandar, the 2004 champion, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 in 40 minutes to reach the 16^th PSA Tour final of his career.

Grant, a former world No12 who is currently ranked 16 in the world, will face Cameron Pilley in Sunday's final after the sixth-seeded Australian downed eighth seed Mansoor Zaman in the other semi-final. The Pakistani retired injured only a few minutes into the fourth game with the score standing at 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-3, 2-0.

Pilley, the 23-year-old world No24 from New South Wales , is celebrating his first PSA final appearance since September last year, but the 15^th of his career.

Hopes of Malaysian success in the women's event were kept alive by world champion Nicol David, the No2 seed from Penang who repeated her victory over Rachael Grinham in the Qatar Airways Challenge final earlier in the month by beating the fourth seed 10-8, 9-6, 9-4 in 56 minutes.

There was Grinham disappointment in the other women's semi-final when third seed Natalie Grinham, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion who is Rachael's younger sister, bowed out to England 's Tania Bailey in the day's longest match.

Bailey, the British champion from Stamford in Lincolnshire , produced her second upset in two days after battling for 73 minutes to beat Grinham junior 9-7, 9-7, 7-9, 1-9, 9-3. The 26-year-old world No8, who knocked out Vanessa Atkinson in the quarter-finals in her first win in five matches over the world number one, is celebrating her 11^th WISPA World Tour final appearance - while David is now in her 24^th.

Top Seeds Crushed In Kuala Lumpur

Local hero Ong Beng Hee, second seed in the men's event, and world number one Vanessa Atkinson, top seed in the women's event, crashed out of today's (Friday) quarter-finals of the CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships at the National Squash Centre at Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur in contrasting circumstances.

Atkinson was playing in her first WISPA World Tour event since pulling out of the Qatar Airways Challenge earlier this month with a back injury. The Netherlands star, champion in KL in 2004, went down tamely 9-1 9-3 9-4 in just 20 minutes to England's eighth seed Tania Bailey. The British champion from Stamford in Lincolnshire will now faces Australia's third seed Natalie Grinham for a place in the final.

The early exit will be a boost to No2 seed Nicol David, the Malaysian star who won the Qatar Airways Challenge to strengthen her bid of regaining the world No1 ranking from Atkinson. Defending champion David reserved her place in the semi-finals with a 9-2 9-1 9-4 victory over Irish champion Madeline Perry.

Men's title-holder Ong Beng Hee overcame a two-game lead by Cameron Pilley to level the match against the sixth seed from Australia. But Pilley, a 23-year-old from New South Wales, regained the advantage to secure a sensational 11-10 (2-0), 11-8, 9-11, 3-11, 11-7 upset in 75 minutes.

Local interest in the event will now be led exclusively by favourite Mohd Azlan Iskandar. The 2004 champion beat Pakistan's 5^th seed Shahid Zaman 11-1, 11-2, 9-11, 11-2 and will now take on England's third seed Adrian Grant in the semi-finals.