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Tricia hampiri gelaran pertama

KUALA LUMPUR - Pemain wanita nombor tiga negara, Tricia Chuah menghampiri kejuaraan antarabangsa pertamanya tahun ini apabila mara ke perlawanan akhir kejohanan skuasy Terbuka Colombo di Lisbon, Portugal semalam.

Tricia, yang tidak pernah merangkul sebarang gelaran daripada 11 kejohanan yang disertainya mengetepikan pemain England, Fiona Moverley 7-9, 10-9, 9-1, 7-9, 9-1 untuk melangkah ke final pertamanya sepanjang 2007.

Pemain nombor 28 dunia itu, yang memiliki pencapaian terbaik mara ke separuh akhir pada Terbuka De La Cite, Mei lalu, kini akan bertemu seorang lagi pemain England, Emma Beddoes.

Beddoes, pilihan kedua menyingkirkan pemain Belanda, Karen Kronemeyer 9-5, 5-9, 9-5, 9-6 dalam satu lagi perlawanan separuh akhir.

Tricia, 25, pilihan pertama nyata gementar memulakan permainan dalam gelanggang kaca Central Plaza di Lisbon, apatah lagi menyedari Moverley mendapat sokongan penonton.

Begitupun, wakil negara ke Sukan SEA Korat itu tenang mengharungi aksi sengit 48 minit itu.

Dalam kejohanan berasingan, hajat pemain nombor dua negara, Sharon Wee untuk memburu kejuaraan pertamanya tahun ini berakhir apabila tersingkir di separuh akhir Terbuka Berkshire, England.

Sharon, pilihan kedua tewas 9-5, 6-9, 0-9, 0-9 kepada Latasha Khan dari Amerika Syarikat.

Latasha akan berdepan pilihan pertama, Shelly Kitchen dari New Zealand yang menang keatas rakan senegara Louise Crome 9-6, 10-8, 9-4.

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Tricia in final of Lisbon tournament

PETALING JAYA: National women's squash player Tricia Chuah is one match away from securing her second World Tour title.
The top seeded Malaysian will face second seed Emma Beddoes of England for the Colombo Open title in Lisbon.

In the semi-finals, Tricia came back from a game down to secure a 7-9, 10-9, 9-1, 7-9, 9-1 win over unseeded Fiona Moverley of England.

Tricia's only World Tour win was the Islamic Games title in 2005 in Teheran.  

First round: Tricia Chuah (Mas) bt Kira Petersen (Den) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1; Lucie Fialova (Cze) bt Maud Duplomb (Fra) 9-4, 7-9, 9-6, 9-5; Milou van der Heijden (Hol) bt Irena Critchley (Eng) 9-0, 9-4, 9-5; Fiona Moverley (Eng) bt Lauren Selby (Eng) 9-2, 9-7, 9-5; Karen Kronemeyer (Hol) bt Linda Hruzikova (Svk) 9-4, 9-2, 9-0; Birgit Coufal (Aut) bt Coline Aumard (Fra) 9-5, 9-5, 9-1; Daniela Schumann (Ger) bt Claire Kidd (Sco) 9-6, 9-1, 9-5; Emma Beddoes (Eng) bt Emma Chorley (Eng) 9-2, 9-0, 9-1.

Quarter-finals: Tricia bt Fialova 9-2, 9-1, 9-5; Moverley bt Heijden 8-10, 9-7, 9-1, 9-2; Kronemeyer bt Coufal 9-2, 9-2, 9-4; Beddoes bt Schumann 9-1, 9-7, 9-4.

Semi-finals: Tricia bt Moverley 7-9, 10-9, 9-1, 7-9, 9-1; Beddoes bt Kronemeyer 9-5, 5-9, 9-5, 9-6.

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Tricia falls to Beddoes in Colombo Open final

PETALING JAYA: National number three Tricia Chuah failed to live up to her top billing in the final of the Colombo Open squash tournament in Lisbon on Sunday.

She went down to a 7-9, 5-9, 5-9 defeat by second seed Emma Beddoes of England in a match that lasted 43 minutes.

揑 wanted to win badly and perhaps I put too much expectation on myself.

揑 tried to play perfect squash but it worked out in only one rally out of 10,

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Nafiizwan falls in the last eight

PETALING JAYA: Nafiizwan Adnan failed in his attempt to reach the semi-finals of the Leinster Squash Open in Dublin, Northern Ireland, on Friday.

Nafiizwan, the sixth seed, lost 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 8-11 to second seed Omar Abdel Aziz of Egypt in the quarter-finals.

Qualifier Ben Ford of England scored another upset win when he ousted fifth seed Tom Hoevenaars of Holland 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 to reach the last four.

In the first round on Thursday, Ford knocked out fourth seed Scott Arnold of Australia 11-10 (2-0), 4-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8.

Quarter-finals: Bradley Ball (Eng) bt Alex Stait (Eng) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7; Mark Krajcsak (Hun) bt Martin Knight (Nzl) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6; Ben Ford (Eng) bt Tom Hoevenaars (Hol) 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3; Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8.

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Nicol plays down hopes of third straight world title

MADRID: Nicol David will try to recover from her biggest setback in more than 18 months when she defends her women抯 World Open title this week on an open air all-transparent court in front of the Spanish Royal Palace.

Nicol will be acclaimed queen of her domain herself if she becomes world champion for a third successive time at the magnificently picturesque venue starting tomorrow.

But after suffering one of the most dramatic upsets in the history of the British Open last month in Manchester, she will again be subjected to some of the most intensely critical scrutiny that any squash player has ever had.

As the first Asian woman ever to reach number one in her sport, the charmingly self-effacing Malaysian has more fame and more support than anyone, but more responsibility than anyone in the history of sport.  

  

Flashback: Nicol David holds the World Open trophy she won last year. She is hoping to to repeat the feat this week.

揥e went through what happened and looked at bits and pieces that should be done,

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Tricia one win from main draw

PETALING JAYA: National number three Tricia Chuah is one match away from making her first appearance in the main draw of the women's World Open championship.

In the first round of the qualifying tournament at the Pallestra Squash Club in Madrid yesterday, the world number 26 defeated Laura Perez of Spain 9-2, 9-2, 9-0 in just 25 minutes.

She will play against the winner of the match between England抯 Suzie Pierrepont and Holland抯 Dagmar Vermeulen.

揑 felt uncomfortable at the start as the court was warm and the ball was bouncy,

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Shelley: Nicol抯 world title bid hinges on ability to avoid marathon matches

PETALING JAYA: The ability to finish off her opponents quickly will be the biggest task of Nicol David in her bid to become the first player in nine years to win three consecutive World Open squash titles beginning today in Madrid.

Her occasional sparring partner, Australian great Sarah Fitz-Gerald, was the last player to accomplish the feat from 1996.

The draw is a challenging one for Nicol with the world number one beginning her campaign at the Pallestra Club against French number one Isabelle Stoehr.

Nicol is slated to meet fifth seeded American Natalie Grainger in the quarter-finals with third seed Rachael Grinham of Australia a possible semi-final opponent.

  

Big hurdle: The dangerous Rachael Grinham is expected to be Nicol David抯 semi-final opponent.

The championship moves to the open-air glass court in front of the Spanish Royal Palace from the quarter-final stage.

Women's International Squash Players Association (Wispa) executive director Andrew Shelley said in an e-mail interview: 揧ou would have to say that the draw does not really favour Nicol.

揟he one player in the fifth to eighth seedings who the top four (seeds) want to avoid is Grainger.  

揂nd if Nicol gets over this hurdle, she will probably have to play against Rachael next.

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Tricia falls to lowly Suzie

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian number three Tricia Chuah faltered badly in the qualifying tournament of the women's World Open at the Pallestra Squash Club in Madrid yesterday.

Tricia, the world number 26, was stunned 1-9, 6-9, 6-9 by 45th ranked Suzie Pierrepont of England in just 34 minutes in the final round of the qualifiers.

Besides defending champion Nicol David, the other Malaysian in the fray, Sharon Wee, faces sixth seed Vicky Botwright of England in today抯 first round.

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Beng Hee through, Azlan falls

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee moved into the second round while Mohd Azlan Iskandar crashed out of the US$210,000 Saudi International in Al-Kobar, Saudi Arabia yesterday.

Beng Hee, the national number two, knocked out Hisham Ashour of Egypt 11-8, 7-11, 11-1, 10-11 (0-2), 11-8 while Azlan went down fighting 10-11 (1-2), 11-8, 9-11, 8-11 to fifth seed Thierry Lincou of France in the first round.

Beng Hee now faces an uphill task in the second round as he takes on Hisham's younger brother Ramy Ashour, the second seed, tomorrow.

Unseeded Laurens Jan Anjema of Holland scored an upset win over 12th seed Mohammed Abbas. The Dutch player won 11-10 (2-0), 11-13 (1-3), 11-2, 11-9 in 52 minutes.

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Sharon fails to clear first hurdle

PETALING JAYA: National number two player Sharon Wee made an early exit from the women's World Open at the Pallestra Squash Club in Madrid yesterday.

Sharon went down tamely 2-9, 5-9, 2-9 to sixth seed Vicky Botwright of England in just 26 minutes in the first round.

Meanwhile, Natalie Grinham of Australia, the second seed, had the perfect start to the championship with an easy opening round match.

Grinham, last year's runner-up and one of the favourites for the title this week, ousted unseeded Dominique Walter of England 9-3, 9-6, 9-5 in 43 minutes.

However, Tania Bailey of England, the fourth seed struggled with breathing problems during her match and took 64 minutes to beat Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand 9-4, 9-1, 6-9,10-9.

Malaysia's Nicol David, the top seed and defending champion played Isabelle Stoehr, the French number one in a late first round match yesterday.

Yen_Aireena

Kitchen downs world No.1 at squash world champs






New Zealand squash player Shelley Kitchen, seeded tenth in the tournament, has defeated the world's highest profile women's player Nicol David in the second round of the squash world champs.
Kitchen defeated the world number one from Malaysia 9-0 9-1 2-9 3-9 9-6, fighting off a tremendous comeback from the favourite. The New Zealander had previously beaten David in the 2006 Commonwealth Games bronze medal match. It was the first time since April 2004 and in 36 events that David had failed to reach the quarterfinals of a world squash event. Kitchen will now face Natalie Grainger, a former world number one from the United States who beat Engy Kheirallah, the second-best Egyptian, 9-2,9-0,9-0 in the second round.

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Nicol struggles to overcome Stoehr in Madrid

MADRID: Nicol David began her attempt to win the World Open title a third successive time by overcoming some fiery conditions and a feisty attack early on from France's Isabelle Stoehr here on Tuesday.

The world number one found her timing hard to come by in a first game in which she trailed 5-7 before winning 9-7, 9-3, 9-0 against an opponent who started impressively but fell away suddenly when Nicol got on top.

The court was hot and the ball bouncy, which made the rallies protracted but also made it difficult to keep tight to the wall. That made for some scrappy early exchanges until the Malaysian began to settle down midway through the second game.

揑 have not played on courts like that for a while,

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Beng Hee looking forward to playing second seeded Ramy

PETALING JAYA: National number two Ong Beng Hee is looking forward to meeting Ramy Ashour in the second round of the Saudi International squash tournament in Al-Kobar after knocking out the Egyptian's elder brother Hisham on Tuesday.

Beng Hee defeated Hisham 11-8, 7-11, 11-1, 10-11 (0-2), 11-8 in the first round to set up a match against second seed Ramy, who beat England's Jonathan Kemp 11-10 (3-1), 10-11 (1-3), 11-3, 11-7.

揂 match against Ramy can only be good for my game. Win or lose, I will definitely be moving (around the court) better after this,

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Nicol: No time for self-pity

MADRID: Nicol David, the highest profile woman player in the history of the sport, has decided to move on fast to the Middle East to get over her second shattering defeat in five weeks.

Rather than wallow in the post-mortem misery of the crazily see-sawing five-game loss to Shelley Kitchen which cost her the World Open title, Nicol will travel as soon as possible to the major events in Qatar and Hong Kong.

She hopes that will help her end an upsetting year on a high.

  
揑 am very disappointed and I'm just happy that I am going straight away to these two events,

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Beng Hee goes down fighting to Ramy

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee failed in his attempt to reach the quarter-finals of the Saudi International squash tournament in Al-Kobar, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.

Beng Hee went down fighting to second seed Ramy Ashour of Egypt, losing 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 6-11, 5-11in 65 minutes in the second round

揌e's (Ramy) so fast. It's difficult to play someone as good as him and if he gives you the chances, you have to take them,

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Aussie sisters make history

MADRID: Rachael and Natalie Grinham made certain of a place in the record books when both reached the World Open final, becoming one of the very few pairs of sisters ever to reach a major final in any sport.  

Though Venus and Serena Williams have achieved this in tennis, there are no conspicuous examples elsewhere and the Grinhams ensured it would happen for the first time in squash by winning their semi-finals on an all-glass court erected in front of the royal palace in the Spanish capital city.  

Natalie, the second seed, was always in control despite admitting to a bout of nerves during a 9-2, 9-5, 9-7 win against Tania Bailey, who led England to the world team title in Edmonton last year.  

Rachael, seeded third but the form player after winning the British Open last month, produced the higher quality performance of the two during a 5-9, 9-6, 9-0, 9-3 win over Natalie Grainger, the former world number one from the United States.

And although the older Rachael lost her tussle with Natalie in the Commonwealth final in Melbourne 19 months ago, she may be the slight favourite this time. She leads 10-6 on the head-to-heads.  

揊inally we can look forward to playing each other because we are not knocking each other out of a tournament,

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Sharon hopes to win first title in her own backyard

PETALING JAYA: National number two Sharon Wee is looking to claim her first title of the year to boost her confidence in the US$10,000 NSC Tour 10 No. 2 tournament, which begins tomorrow at the KL Squash Centre in Jalan Duta.

Sharon, the world number 18, had fared badly in three tournaments in North America over the past one month.

She was the second seed in the Elbow River Casino Open in Calgary last month but ended up as a first-round casualty.

In the Vassar College Open in New York, Sharon, seeded seventh, again bowed out in the first round. Sharon was hoping to bounce back in her defence of the Berkshire Open title in Williamstown, Massachusetts, but the second seeded Malaysian lost in the semi-finals.

She was also a first-round casualty in the World Open in Madrid last Tuesday.

In the NSC Tour tournament, Sharon is the top seed and she is expected to play against Hong Kong's Elise Ng, the fourth seed, in the semi-finals. Australian Peta Hughes is the second seed.

揢nlike many of the top players who are heading to Doha for the Qatar Classic this week, I decided to come back to KL to compete in the NSC Tour tournament,

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Hectic schedule ahead for Azlan, Beng Hee

PETALING JAYA: Top national men's squash players Mohd Azlan Iskandar and Ong Beng Hee have hectic schedules ahead

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Rachael triumphs in historic sisters

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Nafzahizam eyes place in last eight of NSC tournament

PETALING JAYA: National back-up men's squash player Nafzahizam Adnan believes that he has a fair chance to make the quarter-finals even though he will be up against a stronger opponent in the US$10,000 NSC 1 Star No. 2 tournament at the KL Squash Centre in Jalan Duta tomorrow.

Nafzahizam will play against Arshad Iqbal Burki of Pakistan in the first round.

揌e (Arshad) has been playing on the professional circuit for the past six years. He has lots of experience and he will be using this to his advantage,