Nicol David Celebrates Hong Kong Opener on 31st Birthday by Howard Harding August 26, 2014
- Title-holder Nicol David gave herself a perfect present on her 31st
birthday as she successfully began her defence of the Women's Cathay
Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open trophy with a
straightforward win in today's first round of the Women's Squash
Association World Series Gold event in Hong Kong.
The Malaysian world
No1 notched up her 46th successive match win in the championship,
beating compatriot Delia Arnold 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 as she bids to clinch
a remarkable tenth Hong Kong title in a row since 2005.
Top seed David
(pictured above in Hong Kong action with Arnold) will now face Emma
Beddoes, the 13th seed from England who defeated recently-crowned South
African champion Siyoli Waters 12-10, 11-5, 11-6.
Hong Kong will be
represented in the second round after Joey Chan beat Dutch qualifier
Milou van der Heijden 11-3, 11-6, 11-4. The Hong Kong number two,
seeded 15 in the championship, will now face Egypt's No7 seed Omneya
Abdel Kawy for a place in the quarter-finals.
The only upset of the
day came when England's unseeded Victoria Lust beat Nicolette
Fernandes, the 12th seed from Guyana. The pair were poised at three
wins apiece in their head-to-head record before the match - but
underdog Lust defied three recent losses in a row to the world No19 to
defeat Fernandes 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 to land a place in the last 16 round.
Lust, the Canada-based
world No32, will now line up against Amanda Sobhy, the No8 seed from
the USA who despatched Egyptian qualifier Salma Hany Ibrahim 11-6,
13-11, 11-5.
RESULTS: Women's Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open, Hong Kong
