Squash queen claims eighth Asian title
GEORGE TOWN: Malaysian squash sensation and current world number one Datuk Nicol David claimed her eighth title while national number three men’s squash player Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan stunned tournament top seed Ong Beng Hee in the final of the 16th Asian Individual Squash Championship yesterday.
Seven-time Asian women’s individual champion and five-time world champion Nicol lived up to her top billing, outclassing Annie Au Wing-Chi of Hong Kong 11-3, 11-2 and 11-5 in the final. Her previous victories in the tournament came in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.
The 27-year-old Penangite, who took 23 minutes to down her opponent in straight sets, said she was glad to win the competition at the squash centre named after her.
“Annie Au played a very good game today (yesterday) and I had to work extra hard to not let her control the game,” said Nicol.
Annie Au, ranked 11th in the world, said Nicol was simply too strong for her.
“I played my best today (yesterday) as I was still tired from yesterday’s (Friday) match. Overall, I am satisfied with my performance in this tournament as I achieved my target of reaching the final,” she said.
Meanwhile, Nafiizwan, who upset second seed Farhan Mehboob of Pakistan on Friday, continued his sizzling run to subdue four-time champion Beng Hee 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 and 11-8 in a more than an hour battle.
Mohd Nafiizwan, 25, from the east coast state of Terengganu, said he never thought he could defeat Beng Hee but his determination grew after beating second seed Farhan on Friday.
“I just pushed myself to play my best game today and it worked,” he said. — Bernama