Hi-Tec World Open Squash Championships, Manchester, England
Women's 2nd round (top half of draw):
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [13] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 (24m)
[9] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [8] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 21-23, 19-17, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7 (85m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt [4] Natalie Grainger (USA) 11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8 (41m)
[14] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [6] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (34m)
Malaysian favourite Nicol David cruised through to the last eight of the women's competition after beating Rebecca Chiu, the 13th seed from Hong Kong, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 in just 24 minutes. It was David's 14th win in a row over her Asian rival since a shock defeat to Chiu in the Asian Games final six years ago.
In the biggest scoring match since the WISPA World Tour switched to Pro-Scoring (to 11 points per game) in July, Egypt's ninth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy upset England's Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, the eighth seed, 21-23, 19-17, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7 in 85 minutes.
But there were more significant upsets in the afternoon session - with mixed fortunes for New Zealanders: Unseeded Kiwi Jaclyn Hawkes began the second day of second round action with a stunning 11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8 defeat of Natalie Grainger, the fourth seed from the USA and a former world number one.
Later Ireland's 14th seed Madeline Perry shocked Shelley Kitchen, the sixth seed from Auckland, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2.
"I just can't believe it - I wasn't expecting to come out here today and win," admitted Hawkes. "It is definitely my best win ever - in fact every time I've played her before she's chopped me 3/0!
"I didn't go on expecting to beat the world No4 - I've never been near her before," added the UK-based 25-year-old from Auckland.
Hawkes has been working with new national coach Anthony Ricketts, the former world No3 from Australia, since July. "I did a lot of good work with Anthony in the summer. And it's good having him here - he just knows what to do.
"He gave me a game plan - and I stuck to it," added Hawkes, now in her first quarter-final of a major WISPA event.
Madeline Perry, a former world No6 fighting back up the rankings after suffering a serious head injury in a mugging attack in Milan exactly a year ago, was back to bner former best against Kitchen, the world No10.
"It's only over the last couple of months that I've started to feel back to normal - it all went pretty well," said the 31-year-old from Banbridge, near Belfast, in Northern Ireland. "What happened last year was pretty traumatic - getting up the rankings again is probably more difficult than it was the first time."
Women's quarter-final line-up:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [9] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)
Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) v [14] Madeline Perry (IRL)
[3] Natalie Grinham (NED) v [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
[11] Vicky Botwright (ENG) v [7] Alison Waters (ENG)
