NICOL David rallied from a game down against old foe Alison Waters of England to move into the Australian Open semi-finals after an engrossing battle in Canberra yesterday.
Nicol David beat Alison Waters 10-12, 11-1, 11-7, 15-13.
Ong Beng Hee however exited the men’s quarter-finals after a 13-11, 11-5, 12-10 defeat to second seed Omar Mosaad in a repeat of their Kuala Lumpur Open semi-final clash earlier this year in favour of the Egyptian.
Alison’s first meeting with Nicol in 17 months ended in favour of the World No 1 who turned the match around after conceding the opening game in a tie-break en route to a 10-12, 11-1, 11-7, 15-13 victory in one hour and eight minutes.
Defending champion Nicol’s quarter-final win was her 18th in a row against Alison, whose rivalry with the six-time world champion had been gaining momentum until an Achilles injury to the World No 16 last year interrupted the contest.
Nicol, seeking her fifth title of the year, said she had to increase her concentration after the first game and only conceded a point in the second before being taken to another tie-break in the fourth.
“At the start of the second I decided I had to be clearer about what I was doing,” said top seeded Nicol on www.squashsite.co.uk.
“I started watching the ball a bit better and everything started to go really well for me and Alison started making some errors.
“But she kept competing and the third and fourth games were really tough,” added Nicol who will face Ireland’s Madeline Perry in the semi-finals today.
Fourth seed Madeline, who ended home hopes with an 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 win in 33 minutes over Australian Kasey Brown, has yet to drop a game in the tournament and said she was pleased with her effort so far.
“It doesn’t normally happen very often but I started well today. When I won the first few points, I was quite surprised but I took it as a good sign,” said Madeline, who has only beaten Nicol once — in 2009 — in 16 meetings on the WSA Tour.
England’s Laura Massaro had a bye into the semi-finals after Donna Urquhart did not take to the court due to an ankle injury sustained in her second round win over fellow Australian Rachael Grinham.
Laura will meet India’s Dippika Pallikal, who ended the run of fellow giant-killer Amanda Sobhy of the United States 11-5, 11-7, 12-10 in just 32 minutes.
Read more: SQUASH: Nicol gets out of hot Waters – Other – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/other/squash-nicol-gets-out-of-hot-waters-1.126603#ixzz23tUIr3kw