Nicol David, James Willstrop win respective World Open Finals – Squash News
Women World No.1, Nicol David, clinches her seventh Hong Kong title in succession. It was her 35th consecutive win on trot. It was another thumping victory for the number one who defeated the tenth seed Raneem El Weleily
to add another title to her tally.
On the men’s side, it was an upset that saw James Willstrop seal his first Honk Kong title win on his maiden final contest of the tournament. Honk Kong tournament is one of the longest reigning tournament in the history of squash
and winning such a prestigious tournament for the first time in your life is definitely an exciting feeling.
David on the other hand had won this title on six previous occasions and it was a pretty difficult task for her competitor to defeat the inform Malaysian world no.1 that has been ruling the world of squash for several years.
Weleily tried her best to and even levelled the score at from a trail of ¼ to 4/4 but she couldn’t continue her remarkable momentum further to overpower the Malaysian. In the post-match conference Nicol said “she just fired in
a few winners in a row in the third” and her competitor replied to her with utmost respect for her great game and said “In the beginning, I was too eager to win, too excited and I just didn’t play my game at all. In the third, I thought, nothing to lose, and
maybe I started looking a bit better on court!”
Englishmen James Willstrop overpowered the Egyptian second seed, Karim Darwish, to take his first World Open title. Darwish looked out of form and came back two games down but couldn’t perform up to his standards and lost the encounter.
Darwish said “Like yesterday, I won at the crucial times, and I got on top. One-all is a completely different complexion of the game. Two-nil, it’s a huge mountain to climb.”
All in all it was an exciting night for the Spanish fanatics that witnessed two of the best matches. It’s going to be a special moment for the first time World Open champion Willstrop that will last till the end of his career.
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