Nicol On Track For Maiden Windy City Open Title

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysian squash queen Nicol David stormed into her first Windy City Open final after staving off a strong challenge from Nour El Tayeb of Egypt in the semi-final. The world number one player escaped with a close call, winning the 52 minute match 11-9, 13-11 and 12-10 played in Chicago on Tuesday, said www.squashsite.co.uk. "I just had to stick to my game and really had to fight hard not to let her win those points at the end of each game," said Nicol as quoted in the squash website. Nicol, the eight time world champion, took the first set 11-9 without much pressure from the Egyptian lass. In the second set, Nour gained her composure and led at one point but Nicol fought back to lead 10-8 and needed four game ball to double her lead and win 13-11. The third set was crucial for world number seven Nour who took the lead 10-8 but could not hold it longer when Nicol added four points to seal the game 12-10. Nicol will take on world number two Raneem El Welily of Egypt in the final to be held at 6 pm local time (8 am Malaysian time, Thursday). Raneem defeated Camille Serme of France, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3 in 58 minutes. It will be the second time that both players meet in a final this year after the Cleveland Classic on Feb 3, where Nicol celebrated her first win in 2015. -- BERNAMA