Domestic Hopes Dashed As Arnold & Chuah Fail To Make The KL Cut

Engy Kheirallah qualified successfully in Kuala Lumpur. (photo:© 2007 Debra Tessier)

Malaysian fans will have to be satisified with one world champion (Nicol David) and two other high fliers (Azlan Iskandar and Ong Beng Hee) in the filed of this week's Kuala Lumpur WISPA and PSA opens, which run concurrently.

Local hopes of additional players in the field were crushed in the CIMB Kuala Lumpur Open Squash Championships today (Tuesday) by India's Saurav Ghosal and Egypt's Engy Kheirallah in the qualifying finals of the first major international squash event of the year in the Malaysian capital.

Ghosal, the UK-based Indian national champion, needed just 34 minutes to despatch Malaysia's Timothy Arnold 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 to reserve a place in the draw of the men's 4-star PSA Tour event, while Kheirallah battled for 41 minutes to overcome KL-based Tricia Chuah 9-1, 9-2, 6-9, 9-5.

Pakistan's Bilal Zaman caused the biggest upset in the men's qualifiers.  The 22-year-old from Peshawar, ranked 137 in the world, fought for 61 minutes to beat Dutchman Dylan Bennett, the world No44, 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8.

Zaman now meets Egypt's fourth seed Mohammed Abbas in the first round, while Ghosal takes on second seed Karim Darwish, also from Egypt.

Top seed in the men's event is England's Nick Matthew, the reigning British Open champion from Sheffield who is returning to the PSA Tour for the first time since sustaining a ligament tear in his right ankle in the first round of the Canadian Classic at the beginning of January.  Matthew faces unseeded Pakistani Shahid Zaman.

Domestic interest will be focussed on Malaysia's 'Queen of Squash' Nicol David, the world number one from Penang who is making her WISPA World Tour debut this year on home soil.  The 23-year-old top seed faces recently-crowned British National champion Jenny Duncalf in the first round of the WISPA Gold event - and is expected to go on to meet second seed Natalie Grinham in Saturday's final.

The scheduled final would be the pair's first meeting since David defeated her great Australian rival in the World Open final in Belfast in November - at 95 minutes, the longest world final for more than 25 years!

RESULTS:        CIMB Kuala Lumpur Open Squash Championships, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Men's qualifying finals:
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 10-11 (2-4), 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (49m)
Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt Paul Davis (AUS) 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (20m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Timothy Arnold (MAS) 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 (34m)
Bilal Zaman (PAK) bt Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8 (61m)

    Women's qualifying finals:
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Tricia Chuah (MAS) 9-1, 9-2, 6-9, 9-5 (41m)
Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 4-9, 9-6, 8-10, 9-0, 9-6 (65m)
Annelize Naude (NED) bt Joshna Chinappa (IND) 9-6, 9-7, 9-5 (27m)
Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt Peta Hughes (AUS) 9-2, 9-2, 9-0 (21m)

Updated Men's 1st round draw:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Shahid Zaman (PAK)
[5] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Nafzahizam Adnan (MAS)
[4] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) v [Q] Bilal Zaman (PAK)
[8] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) v Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)
[7] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) v Alister Walker (ENG)
[3] Stewart Boswell (AUS) v [Q] Kashif Shuja (NZL)
[6] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v [Q] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[2] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND)

Updated Women's 1st round draw:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
[7] Madeline Perry (IRL) v [Q] Shelley Kitchen (NZL)
[4] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) v [Q] Rebecca Chiu (HKG)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) v Sharon Wee (MAS)
[5] Tania Bailey (ENG) v Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [Q] Annelize Naude (NED)
[8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) v Alison Waters (ENG)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) v [Q] Engy Kheirallah (EGY)