Women's final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-1, 10-8, 9-0 (40m)
Hopes of an English double were foiled in tonight's (Monday) finals of the Dunlop British Open - Liverpool 2008 squash championships when Australia's David Palmer clinched the men's title for the fourth time and Malaysian Nicol David the women's crown for a third time at the ECHO Arena in Liverpool.
Earlier, Nicol David, in her fourth successive women's final, faced final debutante Jenny Duncalf, the fifth seed from Harrogate who beat Australia's defending champion Rachael Grinham en-route to the climax.
David, eager to make up for the disappointment of her shock defeat in last year's final, romped to a first game win in just eight minutes - then forged a 7-2 lead in the second.
But Duncalf, buoyed by a near capacity home crowd at the brand new ECHO Arena, fought back to level the game then moved to within a point of taking the game.
However, the 24-year-old from Penang rallied to save the game-ball and went on to win the match 9-1, 10-8, 9-0 in 40 minutes to secure her third title in four years.
"She's a very special player," said Duncalf of her opponent afterwards. "I just couldn't make any headway. I certainly could have done with that second game - it would have given me a lot of momentum."
Nicol David, now celebrating her fifth successive WISPA World Tour title and her 17th in 20 events, admitted that losing the title last year hit her hard: "I was really devastated - it was there for the taking.
"But you get stronger - you learn what you have to do. You don't let anything get in your way.
"I knew she was going for it in the second game - she had nothing to lose. I had to make sure I didn't let her in."
When asked about her feelings about the new 'Pro Scoring' system which will be in place by the time she seeks to reclaim her World Open title in Manchester in October, David said: "It'll be interesting. We'll see what happens."
