RESULTS: CIMB KL Open Squash Championships, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Women's final:
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [1] Nicol David (MAS) 9-7, 4-9, 9-1, 9-3 (42m)
Men's final:
[1] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [2] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 6-11, 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 6-11, 11-4 (92m)
Vanessa Vanquishes David Dream In KL
Malaysian squash star Nicol David's dream of winning her first title on home soil since becoming world number one was dashed by rival Vanessa Atkinson in today's (Saturday) women's final of the CIMB KL Open in Kuala Lumpur.
The world No2 from the Netherlands swept to a 9-7, 4-9, 9-1, 9-3 victory in 42 minutes in the climax of the second WISPA Gold event of the year to strengthen her bid to regain the world's top ranking which she surrendered to David in January after heading the WISPA list for just a single month.
The triumph marks the second time that Atkinson has overcome David this year, after winning the Apawamis Open in New York in January – and the second time in three years that the Dutch star has beaten the Malaysian in the KL Open final. The title also brings the 29-year-old from The Hague's WISPA World Tour trophy haul to 19 since winning her first in the USA in November 2000.
The all-Malaysian men's final produced a dramatic 92-minute marathon encounter between top seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar and second seed Ong Beng Hee, the three-times Asian champion whom Iskandar recently deposed as the Malaysian number one.
Beng Hee, the 26-year-old former world No7 from Kuala Lumpur who is climbing back up the rankings after a lean spell on the PSA Tour, took the first and fourth games. But Iskandar, the 23-year-old world No14 from Sarawak, stuck to his task and ultimately forged a 6-11, 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 6-11, 11-4 victory to earn the eighth PSA title of his career – three years after winning his first, the KL Open in 2003.