Nicol advances to National Squash Championship 2017 final

National squash queen Datuk Nicol David fulfilled a prevision of going into the National Squash Championship 2017 final by defeating Andrea Lee in the semifinal at the Jalan Duta Squash Centre, today.

Nicol, however, had to exert extra effort when she lost 6-11 in the first set before coming up stronger in the next three sets to win 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 in 31 minutes.

Speaking to reporters after booking her final berth in the premier women''s category, the 33-year-old admitted her opponent showed a convincing performance, especially in the first set.

"In the second set, I knew I had to get in front of her and put the pressure on and keep my consistency in the game.

"In the third and forth set, I think, she (Andrea) was just waiting for the shots to come to her and I just gave more shots at other angles as well as I did not give much space for her to play her game," the tournament''s top seed said.

SPORTS-SQUASH 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR

In another semifinal, Teh Min Jie was shown the exit by Rachel Arnold after losing 4-11, 8-11, 9-11 for the latter to claim her first national championship final spot in her career.

"For the final match tomorrow against Nicol, I will try to give a tough fight and to hang on there for at least 30 minutes of playing," said Rachel.

Meanwhile, in the premier men''s category, defending champion and top seed Nafiizwan Adnan beat Syafiq Kamal 11-3, 11-2, 12-10 in 27 minutes to set up a final appointment with Ivan Yuen, who eliminated Ng Eain Yow in straight sets of 11-9, 11-8, 11-7.

"I faced Ivan twice three weeks ago in Chennai, India and in the Switzerland Open which I won 3-1 in India and lost 1-3 in Switzerland.

"We will see, both of us want to win and Ivan surely wants to claim his first national title," said Nafiizwan, the two-time national champion.

-- BERNAMA