Iskandar & Bailey Win NSC Titles In KL
Men's final:
[1] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 11-6 (73m)
Women's final:
[5] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [1] Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (42m)
Local hero Mohd Azlan Iskandar and England's Tania Bailey triumphed in today's (Saturday) men's and women's finals, respectively, of the NSC Series No5 Squash Championships to bring the five-event series of international Squash events at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to a close.
Tania Bailey celebrated her first WISPA World Tour title success for almost three years - and the biggest of her career - when she beat Madeline Perry, the top seed from Ireland, in the climax of the women's $25,000 championship.
It was the 29-year-old fifth seed from Lincolnshire's third successive upset in three days, after notable victories over fourth-seeded New Zealander Shelley Kitchen in the quarter-finals and former world champion Vanessa Atkinson, the second seed, in the previous round.
Bailey's triumph comes after an injury-stricken period which included knee surgery last year and necessitated a four-month Tour layoff.
The former world No4, who finished outside the top 20 at the end of last year, can now look forward to a significant rankings boost in next month's WISPA list.
Mohd Azlan Iskandar also celebrated a long-awaited return to the winner's podium after his success in the men's $20,000 PSA Tour event.
The 26-year-old top seed from KL, who was marking his 20th appearance in a Tour final, battled for 73 minutes to overcome Egypt's No2 seed Omar Mosaad 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 11-6.
The victory marks Iskandar's 11th Tour title - but the first since winning the KL Open in July 2007.