Marriage no distraction for Nafiizwan

PETALING JAYA: Newly-wed Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan showed no signs of married life being a distraction after storming into the final of the eighth leg of the Malaysian Tour squash circuit (SSJM) at the Hang Jebat Squash Stadium in Malacca on Saturday.

National No. 2 Nafiizwan, who tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend Aufa Dahlia Bahar on Aug 16, was simply too sharp for his younger opponents.

He defeated Gurshan Singh 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 in the quarter-finals before outlasting Mohd Addeen Idrakie 11-13, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 in the semi-finals. 

The world No. 30 will face former national player Timothy Arnold in the final.

Timothy, the older brother of national players Delia and Rachel, was in superb form as he outplayed Mohd Hannan Tarmidi 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 in the quarter-finals before eliminating Elvinn Keo, a former national player, 11-7, 15-13, 11-9 in the last four.

Timothy will be gunning for his third SSJM title, having already won the fifth and sixth legs in Kota Baru and Putrajaya respectively.

In the women’s category, which is a Women’s Squash Association (WSA) Tour event, Egyptian youngster Salma Hany stunned top seed Joey Chan of Hong Kong to make the final.

Salma won 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8 and will face third seed Tong Tsz Wing of Hong Kong for the title.

Tsz Wing also created an upset by beating second seed Lucie Fialova of Czech Republic 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 in the semi-finals.

Malaysia’s main representatives – seventh seed Zulhijjah Azan and eighth seed Teh Min Jie – bowed out in the quarter-finals.