From Malaysia Star Online, Aftar Singh

KUALA LUMPUR. June 21, 2000:

Malaysian national players Mohamed Azlan Iskandar and Yap Kok Four advanced to the main draw of the YTL Open squash championships after winning their respective second round qualifying matches at the NSC courts here Tuesday.

AZLAN TO FACE JENSEN
The 18-year-old Azlan eliminated Alexander Beel of France 15-5, 17-15, 15-5 while Kok Four downed Hong Kong's Yan Ka Ho 17-16, 15-5, 15-4. Azlan, who will be representing Malaysia in the World Junior championships in Italy next month, however, can expect a torrid time in the first round of the main draw as he is drawn to face joint third-fourth seed Matt Jenson of Australia. The lanky and hard working Azlan has never played Jenson before but he is hoping to create an upset. "I'll try my best to beat him. But it will be tough as Jenson is a good player,'' said Azlan.

KOK FOUR FACES FAHEEEM KHAN
Kok Four also looks set to bow out in the first round as his opponent will be former Asian champion Faheem Khan of Hong Kong. The other Malaysian in the main draw is defending champion Kenneth Low. Kenneth, who is ranked 58th in the world, is seeded second this time around and will face a qualifier _Michael Hopkins of England--in his opening match. Holland's Tommy Breden, ranked 54th in the world, is the tournament's top seed.

The Squash Rackets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) executive director Wong Ah Jit said Kenneth should easily qualify for the final. "Judging by his performance in the Milo Open (where Kenneth lost to Ong Beng Hee in the final) and also with the homeground advantage, he should have no problems retaining his title,'' added Ah Jit.

CARLA KHAN ADVANCES
In the women's section, Sharon Wee will join Nicol David in the main draw. The other three Malaysian players--Daphne Ting, Kong Yi Zhen and Tricia Chuah--all lost in the second round of the qualifier Tuesday.

RESULTS Second qualifying round
Men:
Mohamed Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt Alexander Bell (Fra) 15-5, 17-15, 15-5;
Michael Hopkins (Eng) bt Roger Ngan (Hkg) 15-2, 15-6, 15-7;
Yap Kok Four (Mas) bt Yan Ka Ho (Hkg) 17-16, 15-5, 15-4;
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Jackie Lee (Hkg) 15-6, 7-15, 15-9, 16-17, 15-10.

Women:
Sharon Wee (Mas) bt Kong Yi Zhen (Mas) 9-3, 9-0, 9-1;
Eman El Amir (Egy) bt Daphne Ting (Mas) 9-5, 9-7, 9-2;
Junko Sakuma (Jpn) bt Miyuki Adachi ((Jpn) 9-2, 9-3, 9-0;
Carla Khan (Eng) bt Tricia Chuah (Mas) 9-4, 0-9, 9-3, 8-10, 9-3.

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