Nicol moves into British Open quarter-final

National squash queen and world number one, Datuk Nicol Ann David cruised into the last eight of the 2015 Allam British Open Squash Championships held at Airco Arena in Hull, England on Thursday.

The 31-year-old Penangite took one step closer to her sixth title when she beat homester, Emma Beddoes 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 and 11-5 in 53 minutes.

"Really good performance from Emma, especially in front of her home crowd spurring her on. I knew it was going to be a tough one and it was. I managed to play really well in the end and got my game together," said Nicol as quoted in the tournament's official website, http://allambritishopensquash.com.

Nicol will square off against another English player and 13th seed, Sarah-Jane Perry in the quarter-finals.

"Tomorrow, I'm playing Sarah-Jane who has got such a great reach. I'll have to make sure I get the ball passed her and I'm looking forward to that match," said Nicol.

Earlier, Sarah-Jane booked her berth in the last eight after dispossing Donna Urquhart of Australia 11-5, 11-7, 7-11 and 11-6 in her second round encounter.

On Wednesday, Malaysia's number three Delia Arnold recorded a sensational second successive upset in the competition when she beat Hong Kong's Annie Au in her 'best ever' result in the second round clash.

She became the first qualifier to reach the event's quarter-finals for the first time.

Delia will takes on world number two, Raneem El Welily at 1 pm local time on Friday (8 pm Malaysian time, Friday) while Nicol's match against Sarah-Jane will be held at 6.15 pm local time (1.15 am Malaysian time, Saturday) for a place in the semi-finals.