Serme serves stunner
Frenchwoman sends Nicol packing in quarter-finals
Hong Kong is no longer the happy hunting ground it once was for Nicol David.
The 34- year- old Malaysian’s hopes of winning her 12th Hong Kong Open squash title were all over after she went down 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11 in 45 minutes to third seed Camille Serme of France in the quarter-finals.
With the win, Serme ended her 16- match losing streak to the eight-time world champion.
In March, Nicol beat the Frenchwoman in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the British Open.
Nicol has been finding it difficult to score points at crucial stages of her matches and the problem reared its ugly head again in the match against Serme.
Nicol was level at 9-9 in the first set, but went on to lose it 9-11.
It was the same in the third set. With the score tied at 8-8, Nicol made three unforced errors to lose the set.
The fourth set was all Serme’s as she romped to a 9-6 win.
“It was a very tough game. It’s always a battle with her ... even if she’s not at the top of ranking anymore,” said Serme, who lost to Nicol in the 2012 HK Open final.
“She’s still a great player, so I knew it was going to be hard. I can’t believe I have just done it.
“I knew I had to attack and make her work at the front of the court as much as I could.
“It is very positive to beat Nicol for the first time and earn a place in the semi-finals.”
Serme will face world No. 2 Raneem El Weleily of Egypt for a place in the final.
Raneem, however, was taken to the limit by 10th seed Joelle King of New Zealand before prevailing 11-8, 17-15, 7-11, 8-11, 14-12 in 66 minutes.
Top seed Nour El Sherbini of Egypt also booked a spot in the semi-finals by defeating defending champion and compatriot Nouran Gohar 11-7, 11-5, 11-6.
Reigning world champion Nour will take on fourth seed Laura Massaro of England in the other semi-final.
In men’s competition, fifth seed Marwan Elshorbagy of Egypt caused a major upset when he beat world No. 1 and top seed Gregory Gaultier of France 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6 in 55 minutes.
World No. 6 Marwan will face compatriot and two-time Hong Kong Open winner Mohamed ElShorbagy for a place in the final.
Mohamed beat Mohamed Abouelghar, also of Egypt, 11-7, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9 in the quarter-finals.