David & Al Muzayen Strike Asian Games Gold by Howard Harding September 24, 2014
- While Malaysia's Nicol David celebrated a remarkable fourth Squash
gold medal in the 17th Incheon Asian Games in the Republic of Korea, it
was a historic first gold for Kuwait when underdog Abdullah Al Muzayen
recovered from 2/0 down to topple top seed Saurav Ghosal in the men's
final at the Yeorumul Squash Centre in Incheon.
Nicol David, who has
topped the women's world rankings unopposed since August 2006, won her
first Asian Games gold medal in Thailand in 1998 - aged just 15 - then
triumphed again in 2006 in Qatar and 2010 in China.
In her fifth
successive final, but the first all-Malaysian, the 31-year-old from
Penang recovered from a game behind to beat fellow Penangite Low Wee
Wern, the No2 seed, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 12-10 in 60 minutes.
"They are all very
different," David (pictured above, second left, at the medal ceremony)
told Reuters of her Asian Games gold medal haul. "Every medal had a
different significance to it."
Al Muzayen was making
only his second appearance in the Asian Games after reaching the
quarter-finals in 2010. The 26-year-old 5/8 seed began his
giant-killing Incheon run in the quarter-finals, beating Malaysia's 3/4
seed Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan before removing Hong Kong's second seed Max
Lee in a 75-minute semi which went the full distance.
In his first victory
over Ghosal for more than six years, the Kuwaiti left-hander fought
back from two games and match-ball down in the third to beat the world
No16 from India 10-12, 2-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 in 87 minutes.
"It was a tough match
for me," the world No46 (pictured above in action with Ghosal) told
Inside The Games afterwards. "When I was down two love, I said to my
coach that I'm done.
"But during the third game, I did not give up and I wanted to get that chance to come back to the game."
RESULTS: 17th Incheon Asian Games Squash Championships, Incheon, Republic of Korea
Men's quarter-finals: [1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [5/8] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9 (58m) [3/4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [5/8] Leo Au (HKG) 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7 (68m) [5/8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [3/4] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 (65m) [2] Max Lee (HKG) bt [5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 8-11, 11-2 (55m) Semi-finals: [1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3/4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (45m) [5/8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [2] Max Lee (HKG) 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8 (75m) Final: [5/8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 10-12, 2-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 (87m)
