Nicol in, Nafiizwan out of US Open quarter finals

Malaysia's squash queen Datuk Nicol David cruised into the quarter finals of the 2016 US Open held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, early this morning.

According to the tournament's official website, http://www.usopensquash.com, the three-time champion came back from the brink of elimination to keep her campaign alive to win the 53-minute encounter against Egyptian Nour El Tayeb.

Nicol who is currently ranked third in the world, began to find her range in the third game, chasing down everything Tayeb could muster to get her name on the board and change the dynamic to win the crucial battle with 4-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 and 11-7.

"I'm over the moon. I wasn't firing in the first game and a half and she (Tayeb) made it very hard for me.

"I knew I had to fight all the way. I trained really hard over the summer during the off season and I wasn't going to go down without a fight - I pushed to the limit and I'm really pleased to win that," she said.

The 33-year-old Penangite is set for a quarter finals battle against fifth seeded Raneem El Welily, who denied New Zealand's Joelle King in another second round match.

The former Egyptian world number one defeated King 1-11, 11-9, 11-7 and 11-8 in 50 minutes.

The quarter finals battle between Nicol and Welily is scheduled on Wednesday at 7.30pm local time. ((M'sia is 12 hours ahead of Philadelphia)

Meanwhile, in the men's category, Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan failed to advance into the quarter final spot after losing to South African Stephen Coppinger in a gritting 82 minutes second round battle.

Mohd Nafiizwan who had survived from the qualifying round, took the lead with 2-1 in the second and third set against the world ranked 24th, but failed to maintain his outstanding performance bowing out at 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 4-11 and 9-11.

In the quarter finals battle, Coppinger will face England's James Willstrop who defeated Mohamed Abouelghar of Egypt with 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 5-11 and 11-7. - Bernama