|
|
TC Malaysian National
Champs 2013
28-Aug to 01-Sep, Kuala Lumpur |
|
more photos on facebook
Reports
from
The Star
Online
Draws & Results
|
01-Sep, Finals:
[1] Nicol David 3-1
[2] Low Wee Wern
11/8, 11/5, 7/11, 11/8
[1] Ong Beng Hee 3-2 [2] Nafiizwan Adnan
11/7, 11/9, 8/11, 9/11, 11/6
It's Nicol and Bengy ...
The Final day of the TC nationals saw a very good sized
crowd packed into the Dato Nicol David Arena where
they were treated to an afternoon of great squash.
Dato Nicol David taking on Low Wee Wern was
the main Premier Division final, the opening game was close
each player trading point for point until Nicol got a couple
of points ahead at 9.7 and then was awarded a stroke and the
first game. In the second game Nicol began better leading
5.2 and then extended that lead to 11.5.
In the third Wee Wern started off much better leading 5.2
and then 8.3, long drawn out rallies now at this stage of
the match but Wee Wern managed to hang on to win the third
and give herself a glimmer of hope. However Nicol got it
back in fourth to win her third National title.
The Men’s Premier event was also between the top two seeds,
Ong Beng Hee and Nafiizwan Adnan.
The first was evenly contested until Beng Hee broke clear to
win the opening game. In the second Wan started better
leading 5.2 but then lost the next seven points in a row to
give Beng Hee a 9.5 lead. Wan Caught up to 7.9 but Beng Hee
got a winner to 10.7, again though Wan was not quite done
fighting back to 9.10. A serve from Wan from the left hand
box was not quite good enough and Beng Hee fired it into the
cross court nick for a winner and a two game lead.
In the third Wan again began brightly leading 5.2 and again
Beng Hee won 6 points in a row but then uncharacteristically
he put three easier shots straight in the tin and then two
winners from Wan gave Wan a game ball. A loose shot from
Beng Hee handed a stroke to Wan and the third game. Beng Hee
began the fourth game better leading 6.2 but this time it
was Wan that worked his way back into the game and soon they
were level at 8.8.Wan did well to stay in the rally at 8.8
having been caught out by two flicks and went on to win the
next two points.
Beng Hee won the next point for 9.10 but a nick at the back
managed to win the game for Wan and we were level at two
games all. In the fifth Beng Hee got the better start
leading 6.2 helped by a few tins from Wan. He was able to
maintain this lead and close out the game 11.6 to retain his
national title.
These two will meet again in 9 days time in the CIMB
Malaysian Open first round.
In the Men’s Division Two final it looked a bit too
far for Aaron Chee as his legs seemed to give way right from
the start. Nafzahizam Adnan claimed the title winning the
opening game 11.1 as Aaron seemed to be still warming up. In
the second Aaron started better leading 6.1 but Adnan fought
back to level and just lost out on a tie break. In the third
lots of movement to the front of the court now as both
players were crawling to return serve, Adnan it was though
that held the big leads to win games three and four rather
comfortably.
The Men’s Division Three final was an all Penang
affair between Johnathen Chew and Ong Sze Kuan, Sze Kuan
took the opening two games 12-10 but Johnathen came back
strongly to take the next three games to take the title back
to Penang.
In the Women’s Division two final this drew a huge crowd
between Ooi Kah Yen and Norshadira. Kah Yen began better
winning the opening game 11.7 but then lost her length in
the second game and Shadira punished her. Kah Yen took the
third game but the fourth was evenly contested with both
sets of supporters getting on the back of the referee and
being very vocal. Some huge points in the tie break but it
was Kah Yen who held her nerve with a low backhand drive
that saw Shadira dive for it but couldn’t quite get there.
As the youngster celebrated Shadira was left sprawled out on
the floor, a very entertaining match by both players.
In the Men’s over 35 final it Kenneth Low the top
seed was too good for Allan Soyza, Kenneth took the opening
two games 11.7 and 11.9 but Allan fought back to push it to
a fourth taking the third 11.5. Kenneth though came back to
take the fourth 11.8 to win this title.
In the Men’s Over 50s Raymond Arnold the second seed
got the better of top seed Francis Gan in four evenly
contested games. Raymond took the opening game 11.8 but
Francis hit back to take the second 11.9. Raymond though
held on to win games three and four 11.6, 11.4.
In the Men’s over 40s category top seed Kim Jim was
too good for tournament sponsor Thomas Chan. Kim Jim makes
the game look so easy and could probably have done well in
one of the divisions as well.
A huge Thank You to Thomas Chan for putting on this
event as well as Nusmetro, with other sponsors
Dunlop, REDTone and Snickers. Well done to
the SRAM organising committee along with the
assistance of Sportspin. Thank you to AstroArena
for broadcasting the matches live on TV.
 |
|
|
|
An Evening with Dato' Nicol David
Reports
from
The Star
Online
Draws & Results |
01-Sep, Finals:
[1] Nicol David 3-1
[2] Low Wee Wern
11/8, 11/5, 7/11, 11/8
[1] Ong Beng Hee 3-2 [2] Nafiizwan Adnan
11/7, 11/9, 8/11, 9/11, 11/6
31-Aug, Semis:
[1] Nicol David
bt Delia Arnold
11/5, 11/8, 12/10
[2] Low Wee Wern bt Zulhijjah Azan
11/4, 11/2, 11/2
[1] Ong Beng Hee bt Addeen Idrakie
11/5, 11/5, 11/3
[2] Nafiizwan Adnan bt Timothy Arnold
11/7, 11/7, 11/7
Top seeds through to finals in KL
In the TC Malaysian Nationals, the Premier event matches
were moved to the Glass court and broadcast live on
AstroArena.
Low Wee Wern the current World number 6 got the
proceedings underway against Zulhijjah Azan the
current world number 74. Wee Wern who was more confident on
the glass court and with the occasion handled things much
better.
The first two games raced by with Wee Wern winning 11-4 and
11-2 being a lot more used to the glass court conditions.
Wee Wern knew when to move up whereas Zulhijjah got caught a
little far back in the court. The third was very similar and
finished 11-2 to Wee Wern.
Nafiizwan Adnan was next on against Timothy Arnold,
only last week Wan won 12-10 in the fifth to win the SSJM
8th leg in Melaka. This time Wan was managing to keep the
intensity high with Tim taking some long deep breaths
between rallies. Tim led in the opening game 7.6 but Wan
steadied the ship to win the next 5 points and the opening
game.
In the second Wan got the better start leading 6-2 before a
long rally saw Tim sit on the court to regain his breath and
take back some momentum. After this Tim closed the gap but
it wasn’t to be enough as Wan closed out the second game
11.6 with a beautiful backhand drop. In the third game it
was level up until 7.7 and then Wan got the better of it to
win the next four points to advance to the final.
Dato Nicol David followed this match taking on World
number 32 Delia Arnold. Nicol began the opening game
better keeping it nice and tight especially down the
backhand side. In the second game Delia began with more
intensity but it dropped off a little bit in the middle. In
the third game however Delia again began with real intent
and managed to sustain it for the whole game. Delia even
held game ball at 10.9 but Nicol is as good as ever at
playing the right shot when under pressure.
Ong Beng Hee set up a rematch of last year’s final
winning his semi finals in three games against Addeen
Idrakie. Beng Hee with all his experience was always in
control against the youngster never really allowing Addeen
in front of him.
In the Men’s Division Two event Aaron Chee survived
another brutal match this time to sneak past Raja Adam 12.10
in the fifth. Aaron started the better winning the opening
game but then lost the next two games. Aaron fought back to
win the fourth and then continued that form into the fifth.
Nafzahizam Adnan ended the giant killing run of Aqif Ampandi
in three straight games as the strong Nafzahizam took
control of the court and the centre area moving Aqif to all
corners.
In Women’s Division Two Noorshadira survived a scare
against Lee Ka Ern, Shadira took the opening game 11-9 but
Ka Ern fought back to take the next two games with the third
on a tie break. Shadira was not to be denied though winning
the fourth 11.8 and then the fifth 13.11. Shadira will now
play Ooi Kah Yen in tomorrows final, Kah Yen defeated Heng
Yi Lian in four games.
In the Men’s over 35 group Kenneth Low the top seed
needed four games to beat Khoo Teng Hin. Kenneth is the
current Federal Territories coach with Teng Hin the Penang
coach, it was a close four games but Kenneth had the upper
hand. Tomorrow he will play Allan Soyza after he defeated
close friend Christopher Brodie also in four games.
In the Men’s over 40s squash enthusiast and main
sponsor Thomas Chan won through to the final with a very
hard fought win over Dennis Tan. Dennis won the opening game
11.9 but Thomas came back to win a long second game 15.13.
In games three and four there were only a couple of points
in it but Thomas eventually won through to the final.
Tomorrow he will play Kim Jim after Kim defeated Rizal Bin
Salleh also in four games.
The Men’s over 50s final will be between the top two
seeds, Francis Gan and Raymond Arnold the top two seeds in
the event. Both winning in three games against TK Ho and
Thian Chye Tan respectively.
|
30-Aug, Day THREE, Quarters
Down to the semi-finalists in KL ...
Quarter final day at TC
national championships saw no real upsets in the Premier
events with the seeded players progressing to the semi
finals.
Nafiizwan Adnan was the first player through beating
Ng Jo Wen in three comfortable games. Wan will now play
Tim Arnold, a repeat of their 12.10 in the fifth match
from last week maybe on the cards but this will see
different circumstances with it being on the glass court.
Tim managed to beat Valentino Bong in three long and tight
games.
Ong Beng Hee wasted little time dispatching Gurshan
Singh and he will now face Addeen Idrakie. Addeen
defeated Sanjay Singh in the closest match in the premier
event. This match went all the way to the wire with Addeen
finishing it with a rolling nick into the front backhand
corner to win the fifth 11.9.
In the Women’s Premier event Sharon Wee almost rolled back
the years for a second day in a row to beat Zulhijjah
Azan. Sharon was leading two games to love and held
three match balls in the third game but couldn’t quite close
out the match. After winning the third Zulhijjah seemed to
grow in confidence winning the fourth and then the fifth.
Delia Arnold played well to beat Teh Min Jie in a
game that saw some good rallies. Both players are very
mobile and this saw some short sharp rallies at the front of
the court. Delia with her experience though was too good for
Min Jie. Low Wee Wern defeated Pushppa Devi in three
comfortable games.
 Dato
Nicol David taking on youngster Aika Azman played a very
enjoyable match. Hopefully Aika will have learned and
cherished playing a legend at the height of her powers.
I don’t think anywhere else in the world you would see a
World Number One referee a match but Nicol did today.
In Division two Aqif Ampandi continued his fine form
this time at the expense of Amir Shariff in four games he
now plays Nafzazhizam Adnan after he beat Jess Tay also in
four games. Second seed Aaron Chee survived five torturing
games against Ryan Pasqual. Having taken a 2.1 games lead
Aaron threw away the fourth looking to conserve energy for
the fifth. His plan almost backfired when he was 10.7 match
ball down but he fought back to win the next five points.
What he will have in the tank for tomorrow im not sure as he
laid very tired on the court after the match. Aaron might
not enjoy his match so much tomorrow with Raja Adam as he
loves to run. Adam defeated Farez Izwan in four tight games.
In Division three Emmanuel Davids run came to an end
at the hands of Foo Ming Han in three games, Ming Han will
now play Ong Sze Kuan. In the other semi final Johnathen
Chew will take on Aanont Wathanasin for a place in Sundays
final.
In the Men’s Over 35 Director of Coaching Allan Soyza
knocked out second seed Kenny Foo in an eagerly anticipated
clash. Allan got the better of Kenny this time in three
straight games. Having been behind 7-2 Allan clawed his way
back to win the second and from the midpoint in the third
game he surged away. Tomorrow Allan will play his good
friend SRAM general manager Chris Brodie for a place in the
final.
In the Women’s Division two NoorShadira survived a
huge scare off Zetty Zawanah to win in five games. Shadira
will play ¾ seed Lee Ka Ern after she also survived 5 tough
games with 2012 Asian Junior under 13 champion Nur Aliah. In
the lower part of the draw current Asian Junior Under 13
champion Ooi Kah Yen defeated another under 13 Chan Yiwen in
four evenly contested games. Tomorrow Kah Yen will play Heng
Yi Lian after she defeated Serene Chee the second seed in
four games.
In the Men’s over 40s all the top seeded players
booked their semi final spots, Kim Jim, Rizal Bin Salleh and
Thomas Chan all won in three games. Second seed Dennis Tan
was pushed all the way to an 11.7 in the fifth victory by
Ivan Gan.
In the Men’s over 50s top seed Francis Gan defeated
Melvin Yap in three games pitching him against Tk Ho
tomorrow. Ho defeated Ng Hong Yuen in some very close games.
Second seed Raymond Arnold set up a semi final with Thian
Chye Tan after wins over Ching Wah Leong and Kin Sam Chan
respectively.
Tomorrows semi finals will be live on Astro 801 so please
tune in to be highly entertained.
|
Men's Premier Results
Women's Premier Results
An Evening with Dato' Nicol David
Reports
from
The Star
Online
Draws & Results |
|
Online
Draws & Results
Men's Premier Results
Women's Premier Results
An Evening with Dato' Nicol David
Reports
from The Star
Online
Draws & Results |
29-Aug, Day TWO, the Big Guns join in
...
Andrew Cross reports
The second day of the TC
Nationals saw the Premier Division event getting involved
with the entrance of some huge names in Malaysian Sport.
Dato Nicol David began her campaign against Teh Min
En. Min En will no doubt have learned a lot from the
experience and it will have been a privilege for her to have
been on court with such a global superstar. Nicol will now
face Aika Azman after she recorded a stunning five
sets win over Rachel Arnold.
Delia Arnold proved to be too strong for Lim Jee Nee
and she will now play Teh Min Jie who defeated
Sivasangari in four brutal games. In the opening two games
Min Jie controlled the pace and the tempo of the match but
after two games this all changed as Sivasangari took
control. Min Jie was now doing a lot of running around the
court forcing Siva to hit closer and closer to the tin. The
fourth was close all the way ending in a tie break but Min
Jie just held on to win the game 15.13.
Sharon Wee rolled back the years to defeat Nazihah
Hanis in three games, her reward is a match with Zulhijah
Azan. Zulhijah defeated Andrea Lee in three games but
almost went to four with Andrea having game balls in the
third game. To complete the quarter final line up Pushppa
Devi beat Jadeleen Lee with Low Wee Wern
advancing at the expense of Zoe Foo.
In the Men’s Premier event Ng Jo Wen got the upsets
started when he defeated Hannan Tarmidi in three games all
of them finishing 11.8. Valentino Bong making a
comeback to the national set up survived a slight scare
against Amir Farhan. Valentino won the opening game but was
made to do a lot of work in the second game needing a few
dives to save points. He lost the second having caught up
from 4.10 to eventually lose 13.11. He steadied a bit more
in the last two games but still did a lot of work eventually
winning in four games.
Valentino will now play Timothy Arnold after he
defeated Yovineshan in three games. Sanjay Singh got the
better of a tired looking Syafiq Kamal and now faces
training mate and long time junior rival Addeen Idrakie
for a place in the semis. Gurshan Singh provided the
last upset in the men’s event when he defeated Choong Kam
Hing in a game that went all the way.
In the Men’s Division two Aqif Ampandi continued his
giant killing run this time beating Nikky Queck in four
games. He will now play Amir Shariff in the quarter finals
after Amir proved too strong for Mivesh Kumar. Jess Tay
defeated the last 5/8 seed in Mark Low in the top half of
the draw in three games. The top half of the draw now looks
wide open with most of the seeds having being eliminated
already. In the bottom half of the draw Asian Junior
Champion Farez Izwan defeated the third seed Andrew Lee in
five brutal games. Farez leading by two games to love looked
to have it in the bag but Andrew fought back to win the next
two games before losing out in the fifth. Ryan Pasqual and
Sam Chan played an equally brutal match that went all the
way to an 11.9 in the fifth win for Ryan. Tomorrow Ryan will
play second seed Aaron Chee after he saw off Shaun Kwan in
four games.
In Division three top seed Eugene Heng crashed out
very similar to the top seed in Division two the day before,
Eugene was beaten by Ong Sze Kuan in four games. Apprentice
coach Emmanual David managed to progress to the next round
beating Nelson Anak Kuda in three games. However there was
bad news for Emmanual’s partner in crime Tengku Ikmal as he
lost out to Muhammed Isa Bin Zakaria. Second seed Aanont
Wathanasin defeated Sidney Chong and is now favourite for
the title.
In the Women’s division two all but one of the top
eight seeds made it through to the last eight. Only
youngster Zetty Zawanah managed to create an upset. With
lots of under 13 and 15 girls within this group and two more
senior players, can the senior players win through to make
the final as expected or will the juniors spring some more
surprises.
In the Men’s Over 35 age group this also almost went
to the seeding’s, only Kee Tay Tan upset the trend with a
win over Max Ng. SRAM general manager Christopher Brodie
defeated Jona Bin Mohini where he will play Kee Tay
tomorrow. Allan Soyza defeated Zaffarin Zanal to set up an
interesting match with Kenny Foo.
The Men’s Over 40’s saw a couple of upsets as SRAM
Deputy President Huang Ying How lost out to Ivan Gan. Ivan
will now play second seed Dennis Tan for a place in the semi
finals after Dennis defeated Edward Chan. Top seed Kim Jim
began his campaign with a strong win against Fitri but could
face stiffer opposition tomorrow.
Tournament Sponsor Thomas Chan looked good in what could
have been a tough opening match with Calvin Chang. Thomas
will now play Walter Lai in tomorrow’s Quarter final. In the
Men’s Over 50s group all the matches went with the seedings,
there should be some close and interesting matches tomorrow.
|
|
29-Aug, Day ONE
Andrew Cross reports
The TC
Malaysian Nationals got under way today at the National
Centre Bukit Jalil with the official opening being
officiated by the Malaysian Sports Minister Khairy
Jamaluddin. Khairy Jamaluddin was also here to
congratulate the winning players from the Asian Youth Games
in Nanjing, China last week. Dato Seri Zolkples Embong was
also present along with the main sponsor and squash
enthusiast Thomas Chan. We are thankful to CIMB foundation
for appearing as well with Dunlop representatives.
Division Two began proceedings seeing a real mix of
youth and experience battling it out for places in the last
16. Aaron Soyza the top seed taking on youngster Aqif
Ampandi, Aqif won two very tough opening games and a shock
looked on the cards now the question was could the youngster
keep his composure to win through to the second round. The
third was a tight affair a few match balls for Aqif but he
couldn’t quite take it until he eventually converted one at
13.12 to win the third 14.12. Big result for the youngster
and he will play Nicholas Queck tomorrow.
There were a few tough matches in the opening rounds with
two local roommates Farez Izwan and Marcus Sim were battling
it out on court 3 looking to progress through. Farez Izwan
won the Asian Junior Title under 15s earlier this year but
Marcus started off the better winning the opening game.
However the Asian Junior champion fought back to win the
next three games.
Junior coach Shahril Shahidan might wish he had begun his
training a bit earlier for the event as he seemed to run out
of gas against Sam Chan. Shahril managed to squeeze the
opening game but then lost the second 12-10. Shahril now
with legs and lungs feeling it couldn’t quite take either of
the next two games.
Nafzihizam Adnan began his quest for the title against UITM
student Muhammed Faiz Rudin winning through in three games.
Second seed Aaron Chee booked his second round spot but
there was not so good news for another seeded player, Marcus
Yuen on his comeback lost to junior Mivesh Kumar. Raja Adam
and Andrew Lee managed to get into the next round but both
required four games to get past their opponents.
Division Three also began today with nearly all the
seeded players progressing to the next round, Aaonant
Wathanasin defeated Edmund Yap in three games. Muhammed Isa
Bin Zakaria was the only player to upset the form book when
he defeated Muhammed Ammar Basil Bin Badri in four close
games, he will now play apprentice coach Tengku Ikhmal.
In the Men’s over 40’s there were two huge matches
one between Lawrence Chuah and Sum Kin Chan that went the
full distance with Lawrence just winning the fifth game11.6.
Edward Chan also survived a five game thriller with a win
over Soo Ong Oon.
In the Women’s Division Two championship there is a
lot of juniors competing trying to get their names up the
rankings and take down some older players. The closet match
was between two juniors Alexandra Ryanka and Ming Qi Lee
with Ming Qi winning 3.2.
Tomorrow will see the Premier Divisions getting
involved and all the other age groups. Come on down to Bukit
Jalil to watch for free.
|
Online
Draws & Results
Reports
from The Star
Online
Draws & Results |
TC Malaysian National
Champs 2013
28-Aug to 01-Sep, Kuala Lumpur |
|
|
Preview
Andrew Cross reports
This year’s TC Malaysian National Championships is
back and better than ever as Malaysian squash looks to build
on its recent success.
Dato Nicol David fresh from winning the World Games
in Cali, Columbia, will once again line up in this
prestigious event looking to regain the title from last
year’s winner Low Wee Wern after Nicol missed last
year’s event. These two players are expected to meet in the
final on Sunday afternoon with Delia Arnold expected
to hand out the stiffest challenge to these two as host of
youngsters looking to gain valuable experience from their
more established opponents.
In the Men’s Premier Division it offers a real intriguing
question of who will win this event and to be honest I can’t
decide. Ong Beng Hee the reigning champion is
favourite for the event and he is expected to meet
Nafiizwan Adnan in the final. The other person that
could also win this event is the returning Azlan Iskandar
who is set to play Nafiizwan in the semi final.
The rest of the draw sees a mix of older national players
and juniors looking to make their mark in the event. A very
tough opening match will see Timothy Arnold taking on
Choong Kam Hing with both having been doing well in
some recent local events. Tim managed to push Nafiizwan to a
12-10 in the fifth at the weekend but a tough draw will see
the winner between Kam Hing and Tim play Beng Hee in the
quarter finals.
In addition to the Premier Divisions the men will have
another two full divisions of squash players battling it out
for the Division Two and Three titles. Aaron Soyza
coach of World number 6 Low Wee Wern is favourite to win the
Men’s Division Two title. Second seed is Aaron Chee with
Nafzahizam Adnan looking to make it a brothers double if
both can win their respective events. Andrew Lee completes
the top four seeds in this event but it will be tough for
all of them.
In Division Three youngster Eugene Heng is seeded to win the
event with TV personality and squash enthusiast Aanont
Wathanasin seeded second.
In the over 35 category Kenneth Low will be top seed
looking to beat fierce rival Kenny Foo who won the event
last year. This event sees lots of people still actively
involved in squash all of which will be looking for the
bragging rights. In the men’s over 40s event it
should be a battle between two players from the Selangor
club Kim Jim and Dennis Tan. A full 16 draw in the men’s
over 50 should see some good competition for final spots.
Top seed is Francis Gan with National coach Raymond Arnold
seeded second.
A huge thank you to our main sponsor Nusmetro with
co-sponsorship from Dunlop, REDtone and Snickers.
Thank you to the official broadcaster Astro Arena
that will cover the Semi finals and finals of the Premier
events live on 801. Well done to Squash Rackets Association
of Malaysia for organising the event along with Sportspin.
The opening of the event will be officiated by Khairy
Jamaluddin the Malaysian Sports Minister who will also
congratulate the juniors who represented Malaysia in the
Asian Youth Games, Nanjing, China.
|
|
