Tuesday September 23, 2008
Nicol faces her biggest challenge at World Open
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: World number one women’s squash player Nicol David’s biggest challenge this year will be to win the title in the World Open which begins in Manchester from Oct 11-19.
Last year in Madrid, the Penangite suffered a shock second round defeat at the hands of Shelley Kitchen of New Zealand.
But this year Nicol has been unstoppable romping to seven Women’s International Squash Players Association (Wispa) titles in a row €” the Apawamis, Kuala Lumpur Open, British Open, Seoul Open, Malaysia Open, Singapore Masters and Dutch Open.
And the Malaysian, who has been unbeaten in 38 matches, has vowed to go all out to win her third World Open title. She won it in 2005 (Hong Kong) and 2006 (Ireland).
Nicol will face compatriot Sharon Wee in the first round and she is expected to meet Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong in the second round.
Her biggest challenge would be in the quarter-finals where she is expected to face Luara Lengthorn-Massaro of England.
Nicol took five sets to beat the Englishwoman in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Open early this month.
If she gets past Luara, she is likely to meet fourth seed Natalie Grainger of America, who she defeated 3-0 in the Dutch Open.
Defending champion and second seed Rachael Grinham of Australia is up against England’s Jenny Duncalf, the player she lost to in the semi-finals of the Dutch Open.
The 31-year-old Rachael’s younger sister Natalie, who has yet to win a Wispa title this year, is seeded third.
World number seven Tania Bailey of England is the only notable absentee from the tournament due to a nagging knee injury.
National number three Delia Arnold, who upset World No. 14 Rebecca Chiu in the final to win the NSC Satellite tournament last month, will be playing in the qualifying rounds of the World Open.
Nicol faces her biggest challenge at World Open
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: World number one women’s squash player Nicol David’s biggest challenge this year will be to win the title in the World Open which begins in Manchester from Oct 11-19.
Last year in Madrid, the Penangite suffered a shock second round defeat at the hands of Shelley Kitchen of New Zealand.
But this year Nicol has been unstoppable romping to seven Women’s International Squash Players Association (Wispa) titles in a row €” the Apawamis, Kuala Lumpur Open, British Open, Seoul Open, Malaysia Open, Singapore Masters and Dutch Open.
And the Malaysian, who has been unbeaten in 38 matches, has vowed to go all out to win her third World Open title. She won it in 2005 (Hong Kong) and 2006 (Ireland).
Nicol will face compatriot Sharon Wee in the first round and she is expected to meet Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong in the second round.
Her biggest challenge would be in the quarter-finals where she is expected to face Luara Lengthorn-Massaro of England.
Nicol took five sets to beat the Englishwoman in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Open early this month.
If she gets past Luara, she is likely to meet fourth seed Natalie Grainger of America, who she defeated 3-0 in the Dutch Open.
Defending champion and second seed Rachael Grinham of Australia is up against England’s Jenny Duncalf, the player she lost to in the semi-finals of the Dutch Open.
The 31-year-old Rachael’s younger sister Natalie, who has yet to win a Wispa title this year, is seeded third.
World number seven Tania Bailey of England is the only notable absentee from the tournament due to a nagging knee injury.
National number three Delia Arnold, who upset World No. 14 Rebecca Chiu in the final to win the NSC Satellite tournament last month, will be playing in the qualifying rounds of the World Open.
No comments:
Post a Comment