Laura denies Nicol berth at KL Open finals

Malaysia's world number 1 Datuk Nicol David failed to cruise into the finals of the 2013 CIMB Kuala Lumpur Open Squash Championships when she was defeated by England's Laura Massaro tonight.

In today's semi-finals at the Berjaya Times Square mall here, the 29-year-old Nicol started off brilliantly with a 12-10 score, but Massaro made it 1-1 when she took the second set, 11-6.

Nicol appeared to have lost her momentum in the other two sets which saw Laura seal the match with 11-8 and 11-5.

"I've done my very best but I feel disappointed with the results. I always want to do my best in front of my home crowd but today was not my day. She (Laura) did not make any error today, she was sharp," Nicol told reporters after her match.

Their last meeting was at the Cayman Island World Open finals on Dec 21 last year, where Nicol claimed her seventh World Open title.

Meanwhile, Laura was pleased to have outclassed Nicol on the latter's home turf, saying that she had played well.

"I believed in myself. It has always been hard to beat Nicol, especially in Malaysia. I've always wanted to do better than at my previous events," said Laura who will meet compatriot Alison Waters in tomorrow's final.

In the other semi-final match, Alison defeated New Zealand's Joelle King in straight sets, 12-10, 11-5 and 12-10, in 38 minutes.

In the men's category, the final match tomorrow will be an all-Egyptian affair when the tournament's top seed, Karim Darwish will play against Mohamed El Shorbagy.

It will be a repeat of the 2011 edition which saw Karim Darwish winning the championship.

"Tomorrow, playing against Mohamed will be tough. We played the final here in 2011, so tomorrow will be good. I want to cheer up my supporters here," Karim said.

The 2013 CIMB Kuala Lumpur Open today had 17 former Malaysian Olympians offering their support to the squash fraternity in the bid to include squash in the 2020 Olympic Games.

Among them were Tan Sri Dr M.Jegathesan (athletics), Datuk Poon Fook Loke (hockey) and Wong Choon Han (badminton).