Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan in action against Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland in the quarter-finals Pittsburgh Open squash tournament on Sunday. Nafiizwan lost the match.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s challenge in the US$25,000 (RM83,630) Pittsburgh Open has ended.
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan and Mohd Asyraf Azan fell in the quarter-finals at the Rivers Club on Saturday.
The sixth-seeded Nafiizwan had no answer to third seed Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland, losing in straight gams to the world No. 28.
“Nicolas was simply better than me today ... especially at the crucial points,” said world No. 33 Nafiizwan.
“I am disappointed ... I was looking forward to pushing on with this tournament but I just couldn’t.
“I feel that I’m not too far from the top 30 in the world at the moment. I just need to work on giving them more pressure consistently and avoid giving away cheap points.”
Mueller will now meet exciting Egyptian youngster Karim Abdel Gawad in the semi-finals.
The 22-year-old Gawad, who is ranked No. 17 in the world, proved too strong for Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly, winning in straight sets.
Earlier, national No. 3 Asyraf, who played well in the first round to upset seventh seed Henrik Mustonen of Finland, found top seed Alister Walker of Botswana too hot to handle.
The 25-year-old Asyraf, ranked No. 65 in the world, played a frantic attacking game but Walker repelled him with his experience to win 11-9, 11-3, 15-13.
Walker will go on to face the evergreen Olli Tuominen of Finland for a place in the final.
The 34-year-old Tuominen ended the challenge of eighth seed Cesar Salazar of Mexico, winning 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7.
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