KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia''s world number one woman squash
player Datuk Nicol Ann David advanced into the semi-finals of the 2012 British
Open squash championship.
In the quarterfinals held at the O2 Arena glass court in London, Friday, the
28-year-old Penangite defeated New Zealand''s Joelle King 3-1 to book her
semi-finals berth.
The 12th seeded Joelle, dominated the first game and defeated Nicol
11-8.
The world number one and three times British Open champion, gained back her
rhythm in the remaining games and went on to win in 11-3, 11-4 and 11-0 in 45
minutes.
"I was expecting her to come out with a good start. She was bound to be
fired up after her win over Rachael (Grinham) yesterday (Thursday).
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SPORTS-SQUASH (BRITISH OPEN) 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR
"I was struggling to get my shots together at the start, but as the match
went on I found my rhythm and the shots came with that. She was probably feeling
the effects of the five-setter she had yesterday, so I was able to take
advantage of that," said Nicol on www.britishopensquash.net.
She will be meeting third seeded Laura Massaro of England, who defeated
France''s Camille Serme 11-13, 11-3, 11-9 and 11-9 in 51 minutes, in the
semi-final.
"It''s sure to be a pretty exciting match against Laura in the semis
tomorrow, the crowd will be on her side but hopefully I''ll have some support
too," said Nicol.
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final match encounter will be an
all Egyptian affair between Nour El Sherbini and Raneem El Weleily.
Nour booked her berth when she beat Hong Kong''s Annie Au 9-11, 11-7, 11-6,
9-11 and 11-6 while Raneem create an upset over world number two, England''s
Jenny Duncalf in straight sets of 12-10, 11-7 and 11-5 in just 27 minutes.
-- BERNAMA
FA RV HA