30 Jul 2009

Australia’s Kasey Brown (AIS - SQUASH) caused the only upset of the women’s draw when she downed sixth seeded Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy in the first round of the Malaysian Open squash tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Brown, 23, turned in an impressive performance as she beat the world number seven in straight games 12-10, 11-5, 11-7.

Her “reward” for the upset win is a quarter-final against world number one and Malaysian sporting superstar Nicol David, who downed former world number one Vanessa Atkinson 11-4, 11-5, 11-8.

Brown was joined in the quarter-finals by second seed Rachael Grinham, who came back from two games down to overhaul Frenchwoman Isabelle Stoehr 11-13, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5.

Grinham will play England’s Jenny Duncalf in the next round.

In the men’s draw, New South Welshman Cameron Pilley put up a huge fight against eighth seeded Pakistani Farhan Mehboob before falling in five games 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7.

First round results – prefix denotes seeding:

Men

1-Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Yasir Butt (PAK) 11-3, 11-1, 11-6

8-Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7

4-James Willstrop (ENG) bt Hisham Ashour (EGY) 10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-3

Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt 5-Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 10-12, 11-5, 11-1, 11-9

6-Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5

3-Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-8, 11-7, 11-6

7-Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7

2-Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-5, 11-8, 13-11

Women

1-Nicol David (MAS) bt Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 11-4, 11-5, 11-8

Kasey Brown (AUS) bt 6-Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 12-10, 11-5, 11-7

3-Natalie Grinham (NED) bt Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8

8-Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Aisling Blake (IRL) 11-4, 12-10, 11-3

7-Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) bt Annie Au (HKG) 11-4, 3-11, 11-4, 11-4

4-Alison Waters (ENG) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-2, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8

5-Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Camille Serme (FRA) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7

2-Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 11-13, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5