Nicol sets up showdown with Egyptian Sherbini

LONDON: Nicol David, the highest profile woman squash player ever, moved to within one win of repairing the one small blemish on her CV by reaching the final of the British Open at the O2 arena on Saturday.

The World Open record-holder from Malaysia did that with a very impressive 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 win over Laura Massaro, the world No. 3 from England who upset her twice last year.

In the final David will meet Nour El Sherbini, who at 16 became the youngest ever finalist in the tournament’s 90-year history when she over came her higher ranked egyptian compatriot Raneem El Weleily 1412, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8.

It was not just the emphatic scoreline against perhaps her most dangerous rival which underlined David’s still-growing mastery of the women’s game, but the manner of her creating it.

Once a player who applied pressure mostly with speed, she showed she has evolved into one who also pressurizes constantly with the threat of the volley.

It was this which enabled David’s small frame to tyrannize the centre of the court, as well as brilliantly to reach the corners in customary style, eventually causing Massaro, who did little wrong, into mistakes.

It was discouraging for the English woman, despite the support she had from the crowd, to feel as if she sometimes needed to win the same rally two or three times to win a point.

And Massaro did not attack with accuracy, David would often take the initiative herself in the kind of dominating manner which she could never have managed when she first came to prominence seven years ago.

There was little way in which even the modest David could escape a bold self-assessment: “I played a great game today.”

She added: “I was feeding from the crowd, whether they were going for the English player or not, because I was feeding from them, and they were firing me up.

“That kept me focused. I had to stay focused because Laura has the game to keep coming back. I built on my confidence to play better in each game.”

Sherbini, who at 16 became the youngest ever finalist in the tournament’s 90-year history when she over came her higher ranked egyptian compatriot Raneem El Weleily.

Sherbini, who still studies six hours a day for her grade 10 school exams, thus reached the final at an age more than a year younger than the legendary Pakistani Jahangir Khan, who was 17 when he played Australia’s Geoff Hunt in a famous final in 1981. — AFP