David Beats El Tayeb, Marks Decade Of Hong Kong Open Titles by Howard Harding August 31, 2014
- Malaysia's formidable squash player Nicol David today marked a
tantalising trio of metric milestones in the climax of the Women's
Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open today - winning
the Women's Squash Association World Series Gold title for the 10th
year in a row; clinching her 50th straight match win in the former
British colony; and notching up the 75th WSA World Tour title of her
career!
David, the world
number one since August 2006, arrived in Hong Kong having suffered a
rare semi-final defeat in a WSA World Series event - a four-game loss
to Egypt's world No3 Raneem El Welily in the Malaysian Open which
denied the 31-year-old from Penang a 12th successive appearance in the
final of her home country's principal event.
But, true to form, David bounced back in Hong Kong - dropping just a single game en-route to the 94th final of her career.
Her unexpected
opponent was Nour El Tayeb, the No16 seed from Egypt who had resumed
her giant-killing exploits last week in Malaysia to knock down the
second, fourth and fifth seeds in Hong Kong to reach her second
unscheduled World Series final in a week.
But, despite taking
David (pictured above in action with El Tayeb) to game balls in the
second, the 21-year-old from Cairo was unable to penetrate the top
seed's armoury as the Malaysian marched through to a resounding 11-4,
12-10, 11-8 victory.
"I'm really pleased to
win 3/0 and win in Hong Kong again," David told www.squashsite.co.uk
after her triumph in 39 minutes on an all-glass court erected in the
Hong Kong Park Sports Centre.
"Nour is an up and
coming player and she never gave up, especially in the second when she
really pressured me and played exactly to her game plan. I had to
really focus and work hard to take four points in a row to win that
game.
"It was crucial to win
the second and not give Nour confidence and play her rhythm because
she's proven why she's in these finals. I knew I needed that second
game and then took it on full speed in the third game.
"I lost last week in
Malaysia, but I always enjoy it here in Hong Kong and it's especially
nice to win here again after last week's disappointment.
"I'll head home to
Malaysia now," continued Hong Kong Open champion. "This is a good boost
for my preparations ahead of the Asian Games coming up in South Korea."
RESULTS: Women's Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open, Hong Kong China
Final: [1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [16] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 11-4, 12-10, 11-8 (39m)
