ID :
407942
Fri, 05/27/2016 - 09:29
Auther :

Nicol Keep Hopes Alive For Third PSA World Series Finals Title

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's squash queen, Nicol David revived her hopes in a bid to claim the third PSA World Series Finals title after cruising to the semifinals of the tournament held at Burj Park in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Thursday (early Friday in Malaysia). The Penangite, who picked up a win and a defeat in two previous Group A matches, defeated world number six Egyptian Nouran Gohar, 11-7 and 11-9 in the third and final preliminary match of the tournament which used the best of three sets format. Speaking afterwards, Nicol pointed out that the win meant a lot to her, while praising the young Egyptian who gave her a stiff fight in the match. "Nouran is fast and furious, so I had to try and impose my pace and was pleased to get the points when it mattered. "She’s feisty and kept coming back, so I’m really pleased to win 2-0 as that second game could have gone either way in the end," Nicol was quoted as saying in the tournament website, www.worldseriesfinals.com. Prior to this, Nicol defeated American Amanda Sobhy 2-0 (11-6, 13-11) in the Group A opener before losing 1-2 (7-11, 11-8, 7-11) to the world number two player, England's Laura Massaro in the second match. On the semifinals match against another Egyptian, Raneem El Welily, later on Friday, Nicol said that she was just going to focus on her game. Raneem advanced to the last four after emerging as the Group B winner. "I know her style of play and what to expect, so I just have to make sure I go out there and make it all count,” said Nicol who secured back-to-back victory in the tournament for 2011/12 and 2012/13 where both edition was held in London. The top eight men's and women squash player in the PSA World Rankings are competing in the tournament to determine the winner of the final title for the 2015/16 season. --BERNAMA

X