Nicol displays true grit to reach US Open quarters

epa05332873 Nicol David (L) of Malaysia in action against Raneem El-Welily of Egypt during their Women's Singles semi final match at the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series Finals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 27 May 2016. EPA/ALI HAIDER

KUALA LUMPUR: Things have not been going her way of late, but if there’s one thing you can expect from Nicol David is that she just doesn’t know when she’s beaten.

And that’s what she showed again as she dug deep into her reserves to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open squash championships.

The Malaysian third seed fought back from two sets down to defeat last year’s runner-up Nour El Tayeb of Egypt 4-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 in the second round at the Drexel University in Philadelphia on Monday.

“I’m over the moon to have come through,” said three-time champion Nicol.

“I wasn’t firing in the first game and a half and she made it very hard for me. I knew I had to fight all the way.

“I’ve trained really hard over the summer, during the off-season, and I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I was pushed to the limit and I’m really pleased to win it 3-2.

“I didn’t let up. I knew I wanted to keep going until the very end and that’s what I did,” added Nicol, who lost in the semi-finals of the tournament last year.

Nicol, who has yet to win a title this year, will be up against another Egyptian – fifth seed Raneem El Welily – for a place in the semi-finals.

Raneem also faced a strong second-round challenge from 10th seed Joelle King of New Zealand before prevailing 1-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

It looks like it will be another uphill task for Nicol as Raneem had defeated her in straight sets in the semi-finals of the World Series Finals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in May.

Nicol is the only Malaysian player to have reached the last eight of the US Open following the second-round exit of national No. 1 men’s player Nafiizwan Adnan.

Nafiizwan, who came through the qualifier, slugged it out with South African Steve Coppinger for 82 minutes before going down 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 9-11.

Coppinger will face England’s James Willstrop in the quarter-finals.

SECOND ROUND RESULTS

Men: Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egy) bt Chris Simpson (Eng) 10-12, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5; Marwan Elshorbagy (Egy) bt Diego Elias (Per) 3-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6; Steve Coppinger (Rsa) bt Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) 11-7, 5-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9; James Willstrop (Eng) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy) 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7;

Women: Nour El Sherbini (Egy) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6; Alison Waters (Eng) bt Salma Hany Ibrahim (Egy) 12-14, 11-1, 7-11, 11-4, 4-12; Raneem El Welily (Egy) bt Joelle King (Nzl) 1-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8; Nicol David (Mas) bt Nour El Tayeb (Egy) 4-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7.