CIMB KL Open Squash Championships, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nicol David and Ong Beng Hee provided the perfect result for their home nation by winning the women's and men's titles, respectively, in the CIMB KL Open Squash Championships at Berjaya Times Square in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

07-Mar, Men's semi-finals:

[4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [1] Stewart Boswell (AUS)                11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (46m)

[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [2] Adrian Grant (ENG)          11-5, 11-8, 11-9 (62m)

Women's semi-finals:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Alison Waters (ENG)                             9-6, 9-4, 9-4 (37m)

[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt Vanessa Atkinson (NED)                  9-0, 9-7, 9-0 (30m)

Ong Beng Hee & Mohd Azlan Iskandar Set Up Dream KL Climax

Ong Beng Hee and Mohd Azlan Iskandar despatched the top two seeds in today's (Friday) semi-finals of the CIMB KL Open to set up a dream men's final in the 5-star PSA Tour squash event at Berjaya Times Square in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

The women's final will also boast domestic interest when defending champion Nicol David - in her fifth successive final - takes on great rival Natalie Grinham, the second seed playing in her first event under the Dutch flag.

Ong Beng Hee, the fourth seed and twice a runner-up in the event, faced Australian favourite Stewart Boswell, ranked three places higher in the world.  But the 28-year-old from Penang claimed his third successive win in six months over the world No14, beating Boswell 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 in 46 minutes to notch up his 19^th appearance in a Tour final.

Third seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar needed 62 minutes to get the better of England's second seed Adrian Grant, beating the left-hander from London 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.  Iskandar, ranked three places below Grant, is celebrating his 17^th Tour final appearance - and looking for his third KL title win after last winning the trophy two years ago after beating Beng Hee in the final.

The top semi-final in the women's WISPA Gold event saw Malaysian superstar Nicol David end the giant-killing run of unseeded English opponent Alison Waters - to mark up her 40^th appearance in a WISPA World Tour final!

David dismissed Waters 9-6, 9-4, 9-4 in 37 minutes and is now in her fourth successive Tour final since November.

David's opponent Natalie Grinham also brought to an end a notable run by Vanessa Atkinson, the unseeded former world champion from the Netherlands who ousted fourth seed Tania Bailey and eighth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy.

But, in their first meeting since Grinham became a fellow countrywoman of Atkinson's, the former Australian won 9-0, 9-7, 9-0 in 30 minutes to set up a 29^th Tour final appearance.

Remarkably, the women's climax will be David and Grinham's ninth successive meeting in a WISPA final since their memorable 95-minute clash in Belfast in the World Open final in November 2006.

Men's quarter-finals:

[1] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [7] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)       11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9 (48m)

[4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [6] Omar Mosaad (EGY)              11-9, 5-11, 11-2, 11-10 (3-1) (60m)

[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [5] Jonathan Kemp (ENG)  11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (35m)

[2] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [8] Mansoor Zaman (PAK)             7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (40m)

Women's quarter-finals:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG)       9-4, 9-3, 9-4 (28m)

Alison Waters (ENG) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS)               9-2, 9-4, 7-9, 4-9, 9-2 (65m)

Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)     9-3, 9-10, 9-5, 8-10, 9-3 (50m)

[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Rebecca Chiu (HKG)           9-7, 9-2, 7-9, 9-3 (51m)

Waters Waltzes To Grinham Win In KL

England's Alison Waters recorded the best win of her career when she upset Australia's world No3 Rachael Grinham in the quarter-finals of the CIMB KL Open to earn a shock semi-final berth in the women's WISPA Gold event at the National Squash Centre in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Just a few weeks after becoming the surprise winner of the British National Championship title for the first time, the unseeded 23-year-old from London romped to a two-game lead over her experienced opponent from Queensland. 

But third seed Grinham, a former world number one, regained the initiative by taking the next two games to draw level.  However, with the match moving into a second hour, Waters upped her game to claim a stunning 9-2, 9-4, 7-9, 4-9, 9-2 victory after 65 minutes.

Waters now faces the toughest opponent in the event - top seed and local star Nicol David.  The world number one from Penang cruised into the semi-finals with a 9-4, 9-3, 9-4 win over unseeded opponent Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, also from England.

There was another upset in the lower half of the draw where unseeded Dutch player Vanessa Atkinson secured her second upset in 24 hours by beating Omneya Abdel Kawy, the No8 seed from Egypt, 9-3, 9-10, 9-5, 8-10, 9-3.  Atkinson now faces her new Dutch compatriot Natalie Grinham for a place in the final.

An all-Malaysian final is still in prospect in the men's 5-star PSA Tour event.  Fourth seed Ong Beng Hee, currently the highest-ranked Malaysian - at No17 in the PSA list - survived the longest men's match in overcoming sixth-seeded Egyptian Omar Mosaad 11-9, 5-11, 11-2, 11-10 (3-1) in 60 minutes.

The 28-year-old former world No7 will now face Stewart Boswell, the top seed from Australia who was runner-up last year.  Boswell beat Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9.

KL-based Mohd Azlan Iskandar earned the quickest win of the day, beating fifth seed Jonathan Kemp, from England, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 in 35 minutes.  The 25-year-old third seed - winner of the title in 2003 and 2006 - now takes on Adrian Grant, the second seed from England who defeated fellow left-hander Mansoor Zaman, the No8 seed from Pakistan, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-5.

05-Mar, Men's 1st round:

[1] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS)               11-2, 11-0, 11-2 (15m)

[7] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Farhan Mehboob (PAK)      11-9, 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-9 (44m)

[4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK)           11-8, 11-4, 5-11, 11-7 (44m)

[6] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Matthew Karwalski (AUS)             11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (27m)

[5] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Dylan Bennett (NED)                        11-4, 11-2, 11-8 (14m)

[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt Tarek Momen (EGY)               11-7, 11-1, 11-6 (23m)

[8] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt Kashif Shuja (NZL)         10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7 (41m)

[2] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Nafzahizam Adnan (MAS)             11-2, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0) (24m)

Women's 1st round:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Sharon Wee (MAS)                                9-2, 9-0, 9-5 (21m)

Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) bt [6] Shelley Kitchen (NZL)       9-7, 3-9, 9-1, 7-9, 9-4 (69m)

[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Kasey Brown (AUS)                 9-1, 9-5, 9-1 (24m)

Alison Waters (ENG) bt [5] Vicky Botwright (ENG)                       9-1, 9-1, 8-10, 9-6 (39m)

[8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [Q] Donna Urquhart (AUS)       9-4, 9-4, 3-9, 9-0 (25m)

Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [4] Tania Bailey (ENG)                       9-4, 9-6, 9-5 (35m)

[Q] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt [7] Jenny Duncalf (ENG)                   9-2, 9-5, 9-3 (25m)

[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Madeline Perry (IRL)                9-1, 9-2, 9-3 (26m)

Contrasting Fortunes For English Girls In KL

Today's first round action in the CIMB KL Open Squash Championships produced a remarkable series of shock English results in the women's WISPA Gold event at the National Squash Centre in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Fourth seed Tania Bailey, the England number one, became the highest seed to fall when she went down 9-4, 9-6, 9-5 to unseeded Vanessa Atkinson.  It was Bailey's first loss to the former world champion from the Netherlands in seven meetings over the past two years.

Fifth seed Vicky Botwright also failed to make her anticipated place in the quarter-finals after losing 9-1, 9-1, 8-10, 9-6 to lower-ranked England team-mate Alison Waters. 

Then seventh seed Jenny Duncalf became the only seed to succumb to a qualifier when she crashed 9-2, 9-5, 9-3 to Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu.

But unseeded Alison Waters was also joined in the last eight by fellow countrywoman Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, who pulled off the final shock of the day by upsetting New Zealand's sixth seed Shelley Kitchen 9-7, 3-9, 9-1, 7-9, 9-4.

Second seed Natalie Grinham made comfortable work of her first outing as a Netherlands player when she defeated Irish qualifier Madeline Perry 9-1, 9-2, 9-3.  The former Australian now takes on Chiu for a place in the last four.

Fortunes in the men's 5-star PSA Tour event favoured the seeds as the top eight players made it through to the quarter-finals.  Local stars Ong Beng Hee and Mohd Azlan Iskandar celebrated victories in opposing halves of the draw - fourth seed Beng Hee beating Pakistan qualifier Shamsul Islam Khan 11-8, 11-4, 5-11, 11-7, and Iskandar, the third seed, despatching Egypt's Tarek Momen 11-7, 11-1, 11-6.
 

Pakistan are also represented on both sides of the draw - following seventh seed Aamir Atlas Khan's 11-9, 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-9 win over fellow Pakistani Farhan Mehboob, and eighth seed Mansoor Zaman's 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7 victory against New Zealander Kashif Shuja.