Nicol Given a King Scare Before Making Final |
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| Friday, 12 October 2012 15:45 | |||
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Nicol (pic) won in five games, 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 7-11, and 11-7, and will meet Egypt's Raneem El Weleily in tomorrow's final. When Nicol found herself down by 6-0 in the final game with King, she took inventory and decided a different outlook was needed.
"I was worrying too much about what she was doing instead of focusing on what I should be doing," said the 29-year-old Nicol told philly.com. "As I started coming back, I was getting more confident." Already, David's second time competing in Philadelphia has been better than her first. This is the second consecutive year Drexel has hosted the event, and last year Nicol was upset in the quarter-finals by Australia's Kasey Brown. El Weleily, 23, is the No. 3 player in the world. In the semifinals, she defeated No. 2-ranked and defending U.S. Open champion Laura Massaro of England, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4. n the first men's semifinal, Gaultier defeated Professional Squash Association's No. 1-ranked James Willstrop of England, 11-7, 11-2, 11-8. That victory avenged a loss to Willstrop in last month's British Grand Prix semifinals. Gaultier was the US Open champion in 2006 when it was held in Boston. He didn't participate in last year's event at Drexel.
"I am happy to be in Philly," he said. "I never came here before, and it is a great event, great venue, and the organizers are doing a great job." Gaultier's opponent, Ashour, won an intense match against the world's No. 2 player, Nick Matthew of England, 15-13, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4. - mD
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PHILADELPHIA: World No 1 Nicol David needed to draw on all her experience and successes to advance to the US Open Women's Squash Championship at Drexel University. Trailing by 6-0 in the fifth and decisive game to New Zealand's No. 1 player Joelle King this morning, Nicol won 11 of the next 12 points to clinch the semi-final clash.
