Nicol Progresses To Last Eight In Mexico

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysian squash queen Nicol David kicked off her campaign with a winning start by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Women's Squash Open Ciudad de Floridablanca in Colombia on Wednesday (Thursday in Malaysia). The world number seven, the only Malaysian to feature in the tournament, took just 25 minutes to beat Mexican qualifier, Samantha Teran, winning in 11-2, 11-7 and 11-3, according to Professional Squash Association (PSA) website www.psaworldtour.com. Second seed Nicol is slated to meet seventh seed Joey Chan in the quarterfinals late Friday after the Hong Kong player edged qualifier Hollie Naughton of Canada, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7 and 11-8 in another first round encounter. Based on the tournament format, winners in the first round will advance straight to the quarterfinals. The inaugural tournament, which is part of the PSA World Tour calendar, offers total prize money of US$70,000 (RM312,317). --BERNAMA