DELIA Arnold stunned World No 13 Madeline Perry yesterday to set up a quarter-final showdown with Nicol David at the Macau Open.
The national No 3 had never beaten Madeline before but added the Irish player’s scalp with her four-game victory to her win over England's World No 7 Alison Waters at the Malaysian Open in August.
Delia, who had to play in the qualifiers to reach the main draw, will next face Nicol having come off second-best in their last meeting at the Hong Kong Open first round in August.
Nicol overcame a persistent Joshna Chinappa of India 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 to mark her return to the Macau Open for the first time in 13 years.
“It was close but I was very patient today,” said Delia in a text message before adding of her plan against Nicol: “I’ve got to hit 33 nick-shots tomorrow (to win).”
Delia’s win follows her victory in the Asian Games team final against India which helped defend the gold medal for Malaysia in Incheon last month.
Nicol is coming off a title win at the US Open which followed victories in the Asian Games individual and team events and the Hong Kong Open title.
Delia has yet to take a game off seven-time world champiom Nicol in their previous five meetings — two on the WSA Tour and three in other competitions — and this could be the 28-year-old’s best chance as any to do so.
National No 1 Ong Beng Hee defeated qualifier Eddie Charlton of England to reach the men’s quarter-finals where he will take on fourth seed Marwan El Shorbagy of Egypt.
Nafiizwan Adnan also advanced to the last-eight, where he meets second seed Omar Mosaad of Egypt after beating Hong Kong’s Yip Tsz Fung. By Devinder Singh