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CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By Aftar Singh
THE STAR ON-LINE: World No. 1 Nicol David is excited about competing in this year’s US$53,500 CIMB Malaysian Open as it will be the first women’s squash Tour event to use the 11-point scoring system.
The top seed believes the new scoring system will make the game more competitive and more exciting.
“Players will have to change their mind-set under the new scoring system. However, the tactics and the strategy will be the same,” said Nicol, when comparing the new scoring format with the previous nine-point system.
All matches at the Malaysian Open, which begins today, will use the 11-point best-of-five-games format, the same as the one used in the men’s Professional Squash Association (PSA) circuit.
The Penangite, who will be gunning for her fourth consecutive Malaysian Open title, has an advantage as she had played under the new scoring system in a tournament in Rome two weeks ago.
“I found the scoring system quite challenging,” said Nicol, who will be going for her fifth title this year, after having won the Apawamis Open, Kuala Lumpur Open, British Open and Seoul Open.
In the Malaysian Open, the 24-year-old Nicol will face Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong today in the first round at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil. Today's first round matches begin at 5pm.
 The matches from the quarter-final stage onwards will be held at The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, from tomorrow.
In Nicol’s half of the draw is seventh seed Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt and third seed Rachael Grinham of Australia.
Holland’s Natalie Grinham is the second seed.
Asked about her chances in the tournament, Nicol said: “If I play well then the results will follow. However, it will be interesting to play Rebecca in the first round as it will be a battle between the top two Asian players.”
Men’s defending champion and world No. 13 Mohd Azlan Iskandar, who is the third seed, will face team-mate Nafiizwan Adnan in the first round.
It will be an uphill task for Azlan to retain his title as he will have world No. 9 and top seed Wael El Hindi of Egypt in the same half.
Two-time champion and world No. 11 Ong Beng Hee, seeded second, hopes to secure his third Malaysian Open title and break into the top 10 bracket.
“I won the KL open in March and, with home crowd support, I hope to win the Malaysian Open as well,” said Beng Hee, who won the tournament in 2000 and 2005.
Nicol David photo by b1photography
Wael El Hindi photo by Jozzah
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