KIWI JOELLE FINALLY BEATS NICOL
World No 11 claims first win against Malaysian in 13 meetings
seen her exit in the semi-finals or earlier in four tournaments since winning the Ciudad de Floridablance title in Colombia in March.
It was 28-year-old Joelle’s first win over Nicol in 13 meetings and marked a reversal of their clash at the Hong Kong Open last year where Nicol came back from a 2-1 deficit to win the last two games.
The defeat came just before the PSA Tour’s world rankings list for September was released to show that Nicol returned to the top-five for the first time since November last year.
National No 2 Rachel Arnold also cracked the top-50 for the first time after moving up two rungs from 52nd.
Meanwhile, Sea Games individual gold medallist Ng Eain Yow is getting straight back into the thick of action with three tournaments planned in September.
Eain Yow, 19, will first play in the qualifying rounds of the Hong Kong Football Club International on Monday before going to Ontario, Canada for the Nash Cup and the Texas Open in Houston.
“Playing in the final (against Syafiq Kamal) was good preparation for my next tournament,” said Eain Yow, who marked his Sea Games debut with gold medals in the men’s singles and doubles and a bronze in the men’s team event.
“I will be playing in consecutive tournaments in Hong Kong, Canada and the US, so hopefully I will continue to get better and climb up the rankings.”
With two PSA Tour titles to his name, Eain Yow is currently ranked 81st in the world.