PETALING JAYA: Defending champion Nicol David made a flying start in the Qatar Classic squash championships to put behind the surprise defeat in the US Open earlier this month.
The 28-year-old Nicol suffered a rare loss to Australia’s Kasey Brown in Philadelphia but she was back to her dominant best as she stormed past Denmark’s Line Hansen 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 in just 25 minutes in Doha yesterday.
It was the perfect response by the world No. 1, who has won every edition of this tournament since its inception in 2007.
Nicol will take on surprise package Kanzy El-Defrawy in the second round after the young Egyptian stunned Malaysian No. 3 Delia Arnold in a thrilling first round match.
The 16th-seeded Delia, who finished as runner-up in the China Open last week, had no answer to the 17-year-old Cairo native’s tenacity and acrobatic movements as she lost 8-11, 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 8-11 in 73 minutes.
In the men’s event, national No. 1 Mohd Azlan Iskandar was the sole survivor after both Ong Beng Hee and Kamran Khan fell at the first hurdle.
Azlan will take on Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller in the second round after the young Swiss caused the biggest upset in the men’s event by beating former world No. 1 and fifth seed Amr Shabana of Egypt in straight sets.
Source : Thestar
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