Malaysian ace meets Nour El Tayeb in Hong Kong final
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
Nicol David stands one match away from a remarkable tenth successive title and a phenomenal 50th straight victory in the former British colony after brushing aside US number one Amanda Sobhy in today’s semi-finals of the Women’s Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open.
The world number one from Malaysia beat eighth seed Sobhy 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 in just 27 minutes on the first day of action in the Women’s Squash Association World Series Gold event on an all-glass court erected in the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre.
The win sees the 31-year-old into the 94th WSA World Tour final of her career.
“No doubt, she played a strong first game,” David (pictured above in action with Sobhy) told www.squashsite.co.uk later. “We were both finding our feet our range on the court.
“Then it was just a matter of putting the work in in the second and third games, and her shots didn’t come in as well and she missed a few shots she doesn’t usually, so I just had to put the pressure on.
“I’m just going to be focusing on what I have to do. I just love playing here. It raises my game and I always play my best squash. I’m just going to go all out and leave it all out there.”
David will now face event giant-killer Nour El Tayeb, the 16th seed from Egypt who reached her second successive surprise WSA World Series final after a dramatic 11-9, 10-12, 11-2, 12-10 triumph in 47 minutes over No2 seed Laura Massaro, the reigning world champion from England.
El Tayeb marched into the semis after consecutive upsets over fifth seed Low Wee Wern and No4 seed Alison Waters – then shocked world No2 Massaro for the second time in ten days!
“I have no words to describe how I feel at the moment,” said the jubilant 21-year-old Egyptian (pictured right in action with Massaro). “To beat Laura twice, and to reach two huge finals, it’s just unbelievable.
“I’m in the best form of my life. It’s definitely the best two weeks of my life, for sure.
“I understand if I won one match, but to back it up for two weeks, I really don’t know how to explain it. The furthest I was looking was the first round!”
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RESULTS: Women’s Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open
Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (27m)
[16] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [2] Laura Massaro (ENG) 11-9, 10-12, 11-2, 12-10 (47m)
Pictures courtesy of WSA