Nicol David, world #1 defeated Jenny Duncalf . (photo:© 2007 Alex Wan)

Kitchen Coasts To KL Upset

Shelley Kitchen upset Madeline Perry. (photo:© 2007 Debra Tessier)

Qualifier Shelley Kitchen produced the only upset on the opening day of women's action in the CIMB Kuala Lumpur Open Squash Championships when she despatched Ireland's seventh seed Madeline Perry in straight games in the WISPA Gold event in the Malaysian capital.

Today's (Wednesday) victory was in fact the New Zealander's second over the Irish world No9 this year on the WISPA World Tour.   It took just 34 minutes for Kitchen to record the 9-7, 9-3, 9-1 win which takes the 27-year-old from Auckland through to a quarter-final against local heroine Nicol David, the world number from Malaysia.

David, playing in her first Tour event since winning the World Open title for the second successive year in Belfast last November, was fully tested by England's Jenny Duncalf, but ultimately toppled the new British National champion 9-6, 9-6, 9-4 in 32 minutes.

The win extends David's unbeaten run to 37 matches in all international competitions since exactly a year ago when she lost to Shelley Kitchen in the bronze medal play-off in the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Nicol David stays focused. (photo:© 2007 Alex Wan)

Second seed Natalie Grinham, the Australian who is expected to meet David in the final in a repeat of the Belfast climax, recovered from a game down to beat Egyptian qualifier Engy Kheirallah 8-10, 9-1, 9-3, 9-5 in 54 minutes.

Grinham will now face another Egyptian, eighth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy who defeated England's Alison Waters 9-5, 10-8, 9-7.

Sharon Wee delighted the home crowd when she took a two-game lead against England's sixth seed Vicky Botwright.  The 29-year-old from Malacca only scored three points in the next two games - but held Botwright at 6-6 in the fifth before the world No5 from Manchester regained control to win 5-9, 5-9, 9-1, 9-2, 9-6 in 51 minutes.

Botwright now meets defending champion Vanessa Atkinson, the Dutch number one who beat Hong Kong qualifier Rebecca Chiu 9-7, 2-9, 9-1, 9-3.

On the men's side, the favored players charged into the second round, with the exception of Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman, the eighth seed, who fell to fellow-Pakistani, Aamir Atlas Khan in three quick games; and England's Alister Walker, who defeated seventh seeded countryman Jonathan Kemp in the longest contest of the evening.

The men's second round includes an intriguing matchup between Alzan Iskandar and second seed Karim Darwish, both of whom have looked strong in the past few appearances.

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

WISPA 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-6, 9-6, 9-4 (32m)
[Q] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [7] Madeline Perry (IRL) 9-7, 9-3, 9-1 (34m)
[4] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [Q] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-7, 2-9, 9-1, 9-3 (49m)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Sharon Wee (MAS) 5-9, 5-9, 9-1, 9-2, 9-6 (51m)
[5] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 9-5, 9-6, 10-9 (53m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Annelize Naude (NED) 5-9, 0-9, 9-0, 9-3, 9-1 (40m)
[8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Alison Waters (ENG) 9-5, 10-8, 9-7 (30m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 8-10, 9-1, 9-3, 9-5 (54m)

PSA 1st Round:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Shahid Zaman (PAK) 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 (20m)
[5] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Nafzahizam Adnan (MAS) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (18m)
[4] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt [Q] Bilal Zaman (PAK) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (26m)
Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [8] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (26m)
Alister Walker (ENG) bt [7] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 10-11 (5-7), 11-7 (49m)
[3] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [Q] Kashif Shuja (NZL) 11-10 (3-1), 11-9, 11-4 (29m)
[6] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0) (39m)
[2] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-2, 11-2, 11-3 (16m)

 

Vanessa Atkinson, defending champ, advanced past Rebecca Chiu. (photo:© 2007 Alex Wan)

Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [Q] Shelley Kitchen (NZL)
[4] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) v [6] Vicky Botwright (ENG)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [5] Tania Bailey (ENG)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) v [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)