WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Country View Malaysian Open Squash Championship, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Semi-finals:
[3] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-3, 10-11 (0-2), 11-2, 11-4 (29m)
[2] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [4] Shahid Zaman (PAK) 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)

Iskandar Canters To Kuala Lumpur Climax

Mohd Azlan Iskandar is one match away from winning his third PSA Tour title of the year - and from becoming only the second Malaysian ever to win his country's prized Open title - after brushing aside Pakistan's Shahid Zaman in straight games in today's semi-finals of the Country View Malaysian Open Squash Championship at the National Squash Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Avenging his defeat by Zaman in June's Asian Team Championship final, the 22-year-old from Sarawak beat the fourth-seeded Pakistani 11-3 11-6 11-4 in 27 minutes to set up a final against Egypt's third seed Wael El Hindi.

It took two minutes longer, and four games, for El Hindi to overcome compatriot Ramy Ashour 11-3 10-11 11-2 11-4 in the other semi-final.  It was a disappointing outcome for 17-year-old Ashour, who also hails from Cairo and was experiencing his first ever defeat on the PSA Tour.  He won the first event he played - the Athens Open in Greece in November - only three months after becoming the youngest ever winner of the world junior crown in Pakistan.

This is 24-year-old El Hindi's first appearance in a PSA final in Malaysia since winning the Kuala Lumpur Open in February - on the very same courts at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil.