By MICHAEL CATLING
NICOL DAVID will be looking to end her season on a high, when she competes for an eighth successive title at the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open next week.
The 30-year-old, who triumphed over Camille Serme in last year’s final, has been to drawn to open her campaign against a qualifier on Wednesday and will feel confident about extending her remarkable 22-match winning streak.
Meanwhile, British Open champion Laura Massaro will be hoping to improve on her shock first-round exit last year and is seeded to face world number three Raneem El Weleily in a mouth-watering quarter-final.
Monte Carlo Classic champion Camille Serme faces young English hopeful Emily Whitlock for a place in the second-round, while Indian number one Dipika Pallikal battles the unpredictable Egyptian Nour El Tayeb in the pick of the first-round matches.
Like many seeded players, English duo Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters will have to wait for the qualifying rounds to conclude before finding out their respective first-round opponents. However, they could meet one another later in the week for a semi-final berth.
Qualifying rounds for the $77,000 event commence on Sunday, with several local players vying for a spot in the main draw.
Qualifying Round One Draw – 01 December:
Emma Beddoes (Eng) v Lee Ka Yi (Hkg) – 13:00pm
Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg) v Nadine Ayman Shahin (Egy) – 13:00pm
Tesni Evans (Wal) v Carmen Lee (Hkg) – 13:45pm
Sina Wall (Ger) v Ho Ka Po (Hkg) – 13:45pm
Sam Cornett (Can) v Vanessa Chu (Hkg) – 14:30pm
Melody Francis (Aus) v Jannis Lam (Hkg) – 14:30pm
Yathreb Adel (Egy) v Li Donglin (Chn) – 15:15pm
Laura Pomportes (Fra) v Choi Uen Shah (Hkg) – 15:15pm
Olivia Blatchford (Usa) v Chan Ho-Ching (Hkg) – 16:00pm
Coline Aumard (Fra) v Belen Etchechoury (Arg) – 16:00pm
Salma Hany Ibrahim (Egy) v Aparajitha Balamurukan (Ind) – 16:45pm
Delia Arnold (Mas) v Karman Siu (Hkg) – 16:45pm
Deon Saffery (Wal) v Ho Ka-Wing (Hkg) – 17:30pm
Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) v Sarah Cardwell (Aus) – 17:30pm
Miriam Metwally (Egy) v Ho Tze-Lok (Hkg) – 18:15pm
Latasha Khan (Usa) v Cheng Nga Ching (Hkg) – 18:15pm
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Round One (Main Draw) – 03 December:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) v Qualifier – 18:45pm
[9] Camille Serme (Fra) v Emily Whitlock (Eng) – 18:00pm
[16] Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) v Donna Urquhart (Aus) – 15:00pm
Joey Chan (Hkg) v [5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) – 15:45pm
[4] Alison Waters v Qualifier – 16:30pm
[10] Kasey Brown (Aus) v Qualifier – 17:15pm
[15] Line Hansen (Den) v Sarah Kippax (Eng) – 19:30pm
Joshna Chinappa (Ind) v [7] Natalie Grinham – 20:15pm
[8] Madeline Perry (Irl) v Qualifier – 16:30pm
Sivoli Waters (Rsa) v [11] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) – 17:15pm
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) v [14] Dipika Pallikal (Ind) – 19:30pm
[3] Raneem El Weleily v Liu Tsz-Ling (Hkg) – 20:15pm
[6] Low Wee Wern (Mas) v Qualifier – 15:00pm
Qualifier v [12] Annie Au (Hkg) – 15:45pm
Qualifier v [13] Rachael Grinham (Aus) – 18:00pm
Qualifier v [2] Laura Massaro (Eng) – 18:45pm