DailySquashReport.com

Nicol David, Top Seeds Advance In $70K Malaysian Open
by Matt Wagg

September 11, 2012 - Day one of the CIMB Malaysian Squash Open Championships revealed just two surprises in round one, as unseeded teenager Emily Whitlock surpassed Samantha Teran in four games, whilst No.9 seed Rachael Grinham again failed to play to her seeding as she lost to Omneya Abdel Kawy.

Eighteen-year-old Englishwoman Whitlock, who defeated seeded Jaclyn Hawkes in last month’s Australian Open, again surprised onlookers as she quickly leapt to a two-game lead against the Mexican Open champion.  Teran fought back and slowly got into her stride in the third game, winning it and forcing her opponent to a tie-break in the fourth game.  Whitlock stifled the comeback to however, and progresses to round two where she will face fellow-teenager Nour El Sherbini, who beat Gaby Huber in straight games.

Omneya Abdel Kawy has found herself somewhat short of the Top5 place she achieved two years ago, but following some impressive performances in recent months, the Egyptian has begun to rediscover her form as she faced No.9 seed Rachael Grinham.  The Australian is currently occupying her lowest ranking in twelve years at No.14 and was unable to prevent the Egyptian’s progression despite forcing a tiebreak in the third game.

The CIMB Malaysian Open will move to The Curve venue in Selangor for the latter round of the competition, but there were no further upsets from round one at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil as top seeds Nicol David, Raneem El Weleily and Laura Massaro all moved past their qualifier opponents in 30-minutes or less.  Jenny Duncalf too beat Line Hansen of Denmark in 35-minutes.  David will face Donna Urquart in round two, whilst El Weleily will face Egyptian compatriot Abdel Kawy, Massaro will play Dipika Pallikal and Duncalf faces Camille Serme.

Kasey Brown was the only seeded player to drop a game in round one, but after dropping the first game to Heba El Torky of Egypt, the Australian got into her stride to close out the contest in for games.  Brown will face Annie Au after the Hong Kong international beat Milou Van Der Heijden of the Netherlands.

2nd round:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) vs [16] Donna Urquhart (AUS)

[6] Annie Au (HKG) vs [10] Kasey Brown (AUS)

[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) vs [14] Dipika Pallikal (IND)

[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) vs Emily Whitlock (ENG)

[11] Low Wee Wern (MAS) vs [5] Madeline Perry (IRL)

[12] Camille Serme (FRA) vs [3] Jenny Duncalf (ENG)

[15] Alison Waters (ENG) vs [8] Natalie Grinham (NED)

Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) vs Raneem El Weleily (EGY)


1st round:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 11-3, 12-10, 11-9 (30m)

[16] Donna Urquhart (AUS) v Lucie Fialova (CZE) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (32m)

[6] Annie Au (HKG) bt [Q] Milou van der Heijden (NED) 11-2, 11-0, 11-4 (14m)

[10] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Heba El Torky (EGY) 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (53m)

[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [Q] Tong Tsz-Wing (HKG) 11-7, 11-5, 11-1 (28m)

[14] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [Q] Kylie Lindsay (NZL) 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 (30m)

[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Gaby Huber (SUI) 11-7, 11-1, 11-4 (15m)

Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt [13] Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10 (50m)

[11] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [Q] Salma Hany (EGY) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 (22m)

[5] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-2, 11-5, 11-4 (26m)

[12] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Siti Munirah Jusoh (MAS) 11-8, 11-4, 11-4 (27m)

[3] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (35m)

[15] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (17m)

[8] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Lisa Aitken (SCO) 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 (23m)

Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [9] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 11-7, 11-7, 10-12 (34m)

[2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [Q] Vanessa Raj (MAS) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (25m)