PETALING JAYA: Malaysian squash queen Nicol David survived a scare by Hong Kong's Joey Chan to book her spot in the quarter-finals of the British Open.
World No. 7 Nicol, who is gunning for her sixth British title, had to dig deep to pull off an 11-4, 13-11, 9-11, 11-2 win over world No. 17 Joey at the Airco Arena in Hull on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Nicol, fresh from bagging her 101st Professional Squash Association (PSA) title at the Ciudad de Floridablanca Open in Colombia earlier this month, got off to flying start as she took a 7-0 lead before taking the first set 11-4.
Joey, however, found her range in the second set and fought from 6-10 down to take a 12-11 lead in the second before Nicol stepped up to close it 13-11.
The 28-year-old Hong Kong player who has never beaten Nicol in four previous meetings, did however step up with her aggressive play to take the third set 11-9.
It was the first set Joey has ever taken off Nicol in five meetings.
Eight-time world champion Nicol was, however, unfazed and raced to a 10-1 lead in the fourth before sealing the win after 47 minutes.
The Penangite next meets either world No. 2 Camille Serme of France or world No. 13 Nour El Tayeb of Egypt for a place in the semi-finals.
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