KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian squash queen and world number three Datuk Nicol David advanced to the last four of the Netsuite Open Squash Championship held in San Francisco, United States late Wednesday (early Thursday Malaysia time).
The Penangite received a walkover from her opponent Nour El Tayeb from Egypt while trailing 0-7 in the third game after a couple of falls due to slippery conditions in the glass court at the Bay Club of San Francisco.
Nicol had won the first two games 11-9, 11-6.
Speaking after the match, Nicol said she was glad to control her tempo during the match despite playing under slippery conditions but expressed sympathy for the Egyptian who decided to retire in the third set.
“It’s just a matter of how comfortable you are after falling, you don’t want to stretch yourself, so it’s not the nicest way to win it. I hope she’s okay and didn’t hurt herself along the way,” Nicol was quoted as saying in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) website www.psaworldtour.com.
“You try your best to do what you can under the circumstances. We’re both going through the same situation, but you just have to see what works for you and make the most of it as much as you can,” she added.
Nicol will face third seeded American Amanda Sobhy in the last four, late Friday, as the American only took 24 minutes to dispatch Joey Chan of Hong Kong 11-3, 12-10, 11-2 in another quarterfinal match.
Malaysia did not send representatives in the men’s division of the tournament which offers a total prize purse of US$150,000 (RM619,957). --BERNAMA