NICOL CLAIM EIGHTH ASIAN TITLE, NAFIIZWAN UPSET BENG HEE

GEORGE TOWN, April 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysian squash sensation and current
world number one Nicol David claimed her eighth title while national number
three men's squash player Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan stunned tournament top seed Ong
Beng Hee in the final of the 16th Asian Individual Squash Championship, here
Saturday.


Nafiizwan, who upset second seed Farhan Mehboob of Pakistan Friday,
continued his sizzling run to subdue four-time champion Beng Hee 11-7, 7-11,
11-7 and 11-8 in a more than an hour battle.

Mohd Nafiizwan, 25, from the east coast state of Terengganu, said he never
thought he could defeat Beng Hee but his determination grew after beating second
seed Farhan yesterday.

"I just pushed myself to play my best game today and it worked," he said
during the post-match interview.

Beng Hee said he was very disappointed to lose today's final.

"My movement was not really smooth but all the credit to Nafiizwan
who played well throughout the tournament," he said.

However, seven times Asian women's individual champion and five-time world
champion Nicol lived up to her top billing, outclassing Annie Au Wing-Chi of
Hong Kong 11-3, 11-2 and 11-5 in the final.

Her previous victories in the tournament came in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004,
2006, 2008 and 2010.

The 27-year-old Penangite, who took 23 minutes to down her opponent in
straight sets, said she was glad to win the competition at the squash centre
named after her.

"Annie Au played a very good game today and I had to work extra hard to not
let her control the game," said Nicol.



Annie Au, who is ranked number 11 in the world, said Nicol was simply too
strong for her today.

"I played my best today as I was still tired from yesterday's match.
Overall, I am satisfied with my performance in this tournament as I achieved my
target of reaching the final," she said.